Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – After a stellar first season in which he led the MacEwan Griffins in kills, Ryan Zachary was named to the Canada West All Rookie team on Tuesday.
It was a campaign to remember for the fab freshman from Airdrie, Alta., as he recorded 207 kills – the third-highest single season total in MacEwan's Canada West history.
Along the way, he also established the school record for kills in a match by a rookie with 23 against Manitoba on Nov. 18.
"Obviously the calibre of player that Ryan is, I'm not surprised he was named. I thought he had a great year," said MacEwan head coach Bradley Poplawski.
"I think that reflects well on him and reflects well on our program. We're all really, really proud of him. It's well deserved."
After leading Team Alberta to a silver medal at the 2017 Canada Summer Games, Zachary had to adjust to a new position when he came to the Griffins.
"He played right side with us for Team Alberta in the summer, but we moved him to the left side pretty early on," said Poplawski of his outside hitter. "He had to learn a new position – and he had some experience, but at the Canada West level, it's quite a bit different than passing in club.
"The fact he came in and was really able to stabilize some passing for us was awesome. Offensively, he progressed as the year went on. I'm really proud of him and happy for him."
Zachary was one of seven players voted onto the Canada West All-Rookie team, joining Trinity Western's Jesse Elser and Jackson Howe, UBC Okanagan's Caleb Funk, UBC's Fynn McCarthy, Saskatchewan's Dylan Mortensen and Manitoba's Brendan Warren on the squad.
Beyond the kills number, the Science major also led the Griffins in points (243.5 – also third-best in the program's Canada West history) and contributed across other categories, finishing second in service aces (16), second in digs (119) and third in blocks (38).
"We did a lot of stuff with his arm work and his approach, but he really seems to be that guy who comes to practice wanting to get better," said Poplawski. "I thought he put a lot of work into it.
"His jump is phenomenal, so he has physical gifts that are great. He worked hard on other areas of the game. He takes a lot of pride in his passing. Sometimes as a young guy, you just want to hit the ball. You just want to do offence and don't put as much work into the other skills. I thought he really invested in his passing and worked hard at that area. Again, he became one of our go-to guys down the stretch, so it was nice to see his progression there."
