Three Stars: Lyndon, Shimoda, Taupert earn honours

MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Men’s volleyball student-athlete Alexander Lyndon is the MacEwan Athletics first star of the week after his performance on the final weekend of his Griffins career.

The senior setter produced 88 assists across two matches against UBC Okanagan, helping the Griffins post their first win of the season on Friday.

Women’s volleyball setter Payton Shimoda and men’s hockey forward Jordan Taupert were named the second and third stars, respectively.

It’s the second appearance of the season on the Three Stars list for all three student-athletes. Lyndon was previously named second star on Jan. 23, Shimoda was previously awarded second star on Oct. 24, and Taupert earned second star honours on Oct. 17.

 Alexander Lyndon tips the ball over the UBC Okanagan block during a match last weekend. He led the Griffins to a weekend split with 88 total assists to surpass 1,500 for his career (Eduardo Perez photo).

1^st STAR: Alexander Lyndon, S, men’s volleyball

Sydney, AUS, fourth-year, Science

Playing in the final two matches of his MacEwan career, the graduating senior surpassed a special milestone on Saturday, becoming just the second Griffins setter to reach 1,500 career assists.

Lyndon reached the mark in the third set of Saturday’s match against UBC Okanagan and finishes with 1,518 in just three seasons with the team. Only Matt Mohler has more in program history as he recorded 2,045 from 2014-17.

Lyndon was also a big reason why the Griffins won their first match of the season – a 3-2 triumph over UBCO on Friday – as he led the way with 50 assists, which is tied for the ninth-most by a Griffin in a Canada West match.

He added 38 assists in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Heat, averaging 9.78 assists/set during the weekend series. Lyndon also added 12 kills, three aces, 15 digs and four blocks in the matchup.

For the season, the setter finished with 486 assists (sixth in MacEwan’s CW history) and 18 aces (third), which is just one shy of the program record he shares with Max Vriend.

 Payton Shimoda averaged 9.86 assists/set in a weekend series against UBC Okanagan, finishing the season with a 9.70 average to break a program record (Robert Antoniuk photo).

2^nd STAR: Payton Shimoda, S, women’s volleyball

Edmonton, AB, third-year, Commerce

Setting a varied attack all weekend, Shimoda was the driving force behind the Griffins’ split with the UBC Okanagan Heat, which clinched sixth place in the Canada West standings.

In Friday’s 3-1 loss, Shimoda had 35 assists, adding three kills, an ace, eight digs and three blocks.

In Saturday’s 3-0 win, the third-year veteran hit another gear with 34 assists, 10 digs and two blocks, as she kept UBCO off balance all match.

For the weekend, she hit a sizzling 9.86 assists/set average and finished the season with a 9.70 mark, which broke the program record for the best in MacEwan’s Canada West era, previously held by Kylie Schubert (9.31 in 2019-20).

For the season, Shimoda finished with 776 assists (second in the program’s CW history only behind Schubert’s 782 in 2019-20) and is now up to 1,600 for her career, which places her third in program leaders behind Claire McLoughlin (2,010) and Schubert (1,614).

Shimoda will lead the Griffins into a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series at the UFV Cascades on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if necessary) – 7 p.m. MT, Canada West TV all days.

 Jordan Taupert paced the Griffins with three assists in two playoff games against the Mount Royal University Cougars (Rebecca Chelmick photo).

3^rd STAR: Jordan Taupert, F, men’s hockey

Medicine Hat, AB, fourth-year, Arts

The veteran assistant captain led the Griffins in their historic first Canada West playoff series with three assists in the two-game set against the Mount Royal University Cougars.

Playing in the final games of his Griffins career, the graduating senior was a big reason MacEwan pushed the No. 3-ranked team in U SPORTS.

In Friday’s 4-1 loss, Taupert set up Ethan Strang for the Griffins’ lone goal, which will go down as the first Canada West playoff tally in program history.

In Saturday’s 6-4 loss, a wild contest in which the Griffins twice held the lead, Taupert assisted on goals by Kadyn Chabot and Kole Gable.

For his career, Taupert finishes with two goals and five points in four playoff games, stretching back to his first season with the Griffins in the ACAC playoffs in 2019-20.