Men’s hockey forward Reid Valade, women’s hockey goaltender Ridleigh Hansen and women’s volleyball left side Olivia Bell have been named Huskies Athletes of the Week, sponsored by Freeman’s Little New York Halifax, for the week ending February 18, 2024.
Reid Valade / Men’s Hockey / Caledon, ON / 1st year / Commerce
Reid Valade, a first year forward from Caledon, ON is the Huskies male athlete of the week for the week of Feb. 12-18, 2024.
Valade helped lead the Huskies to a quarterfinal sweep over the UPEI Panthers, scoring three points (two goals, one assist) and recording a +2 plus/minus rating in a pair of games.
In Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Panthers, Valade scored a second period goal to tie the game at 2-2, and recorded three shots on goal.
In Saturday’s series clinching 2-1 win over the Panthers, Valade scored the overtime winning goal, assisted on the Huskies other goal, and was a +2 with two shots on goal.
In his first regular season with the Huskies, Valade was second on the team in goals with 10, and third in points with 21.
The Huskies advance to take on the U SPORTS #1 ranked UNB REDS in the AUS Semifinal, with Game One scheduled to be played Friday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. at UNB’s Aitken Centre.
Ridleigh Hansen / Women’s Hockey / Red Deer, AB / 2nd year / Arts
Ridleigh Hansen, a second year goaltender from Red Deer, AB, is the Huskies female athlete of the week for the week of Feb. 12-18, 2024.
Hansen helped lead the Huskies to a quarterfinal sweep over the Dalhousie Tigers, stopping all 58 shots she faced over a pair of shutout wins.
In Wednesday’s 2-0 win over the Tigers, Hansen made 27 saves for the shutout win.
In Friday’s 4-0 win over the Tigers, Hansen turned away all 31 shots she faced to clinch the sweep.
Hansen was one of the top goaltenders in the AUS this season, leading the conference in wins (14), minutes played (1237:58) and tying for the conference lead in shutouts (three).
The Huskies advance to take on the U SPORTS #8 ranked UNB REDS in the AUS Semifinal, with Game One scheduled to be played Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. at UNB’s Aitken Centre.
Olivia Bell / Women’s Volleyball / LaHave Islands, NS / 5th year / Arts
Olivia Bell, a fifth year left side hitter from LaHave Islands, NS, is the Huskies female athlete of the week for the week of Feb. 12-18, 2024.
Bell led the Huskies to a pair of wins over the Memorial Sea-Hawks to finish off the regular season, amassing 36 points, 30 kills, 18 digs, four service aces, four assists and four blocks over two games.
In Friday night’s four set win over the Sea-Hawks, Bell led the Huskies with 22 points, 17 kills, nine digs, four service aces, four assists and two blocks.
In Saturday afternoon’s four set win over the Sea-Hawks, Bell once again led the Huskies with 14 points, 13 kills and two blocks. During Saturday’s game, Bell recorded the 1000th kill of her AUS regular season career, and was named Player of the Game in her final regular season match at the Homburg Centre.
Bell finishes the regular season as the AUS lead in points (282.5), points per set (3.7), kills (238), kills per set (3.13), total attacks (678), and also ranks among the league leaders in service aces (29 – 3rd), service aces per set (0.38, 4th), digs (218 – 7th), digs per set (2.87 – 9th), and hitting percentage (.190 – 10th).
The Huskies finished the regular season as the #2 seed, setting up a semifinal matchup against the #3 seed Dalhousie Tigers, with Game One scheduled to be played Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. at the Homburg Centre.