MacEwan Athletics
In a new world of social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are announcing all 2019-20 Griffins award winners online. Today wraps up our schedule:
March 25: Most Improved winners for each team (Find the story here)
March 26: Most Outstanding winners for each team (Find the story here)
March 27: Team of the Year (Find the story here)
March 28: Academic Team of the Year (Find the story here)
Monday: Female Rookie of the Year (Find the story here)
Tuesday: Male Rookie of the Year (Find the story here)
Wednesday: Female Athlete of the Year (Find the story here)
Today: Male Athlete of the Year
Our Male Athlete of the Year award goes to the individual who had the greatest performance of any men's Griffins student-athlete (in good academic standing) over the course of the 2019-20 season.
The 2019-20 winner (as voted on by MacEwan Athletics' coaches and staff) is men's volleyball player Max Vriend.
It truly was a remarkable final season for the fifth-year graduating senior, who became the first in program history to be named to a Canada West all-star team (second team) and first to lead the conference in kills, kills/set and points/set.
"To get recognized as a Canada West all-star, that means it's not just his teammates or coaches that see the value," said head coach Brad Poplawski. "It shows that's how respected he is amongst the Canada West coaches.
"I know heading into every match we played this year, he was the focal point for all the teams we played. For him to have the year he did being the focus, I think, is even more impressive."
In a senior season for the ages, Vriend broke six program single season records – kills (317), kills/set (4.17), points (362.5), points/set (4.8), aces (19), aces/set (0.25) – set a new standard for kills in a match (32 at UBCO on Jan. 31, 2020) and tied another single match mark, his own (most points in a match with 34.0 at UBCO, Jan. 31, 2020).
As impressive as any of Vriend's stats was the fact he accounted for 41.7 per cent of MacEwan's total offensive production – by far the highest among any single player in the conference.
After the incredible season that he had, Vriend also now holds Griffins program career Canada West records for kills (1,037), points (1,311.0), blocks (327), service aces (79), sets played (402).
"As a man, as a person and as a student-athlete, I think he's the pinnacle for what a MacEwan student-athlete should be," said Poplawski. "He's remarkable in the classroom, great in the community, extremely giving with his time, and one of the top athletes in the country.
"When you talk about our three pillars of academic, community and athletics, he doesn't just check the boxes, he surpasses them. He's set a standard, not just for men's volleyball, but I think it's a bar every athlete at MacEwan should try to reach. He's literally done everything in his career at MacEwan."
