Raya Surinx named Canada West Women’s Volleyball Athlete of the Week

In just her second-year, Bisons left side Raya Surinx has already accomplished a number of incredible feats with the Herd. Last year, she became the first player in 14 years to win national Rookie of the Year for the program, helping the Bisons advance to nationals for the first time since 2014. Now, she’s taking an even bigger step forward.

She now leads the conference in kills (122) and kills per set (4.52) after another huge weekend, helping her team pick up two big wins over visiting Mount Royal.

She opened with 18 kills and had just four errors in a 3-0 sweep on Friday, then added 16 more kills and an incredible eight service aces in a 3-2 win Saturday.

On Friday, Surinx was unstoppable on the attack, hitting .412 along with an ace, two digs, a solo block and four assisted blocks. Manitoba swept Mount Royal in three. 

On Saturday, MRU contained Surinx on the attack, but she continued to find other ways to contribute. She added 16 kills, and her impact was felt to an enormous degree at the service line, where she tied her career high with eight aces, four of which came in the first set. Her total was tied for the fifth-most in a single game in conference history. 

Surinx also had ten digs and an assisted block on Saturday, as the No. 9 nationally ranked Bisons came from behind to sweep MRU 3-2, improving to 6-2 on the year. Surinx had the key kill in the fifth, smashing a c-ball out of system while off-balance to give her side a 4-3 lead. They did not trail the rest of the way. 

After eight games, Surinx leads Canada West with 122 kills and 4.52 kills per set. She is also fourth in aces, with 17.