Three Stars: Smythe, Shittu, Stevenson earn honours
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Men's hockey student-athlete Brett Smythe is the MacEwan Athletics first star of the week after recording six points in back-to-back blowout wins over the Portage College Voyageurs.
Smythe had three assists in Friday's 10-0 win before recording two goals and an assist in Saturday's 10-1 victory.
Other athletes recognized this week include second star Abdullah Shittu of the men's basketball team and third star McKenna Stevenson of the women's volleyball team.
Smythe makes the list for the second time this season after having also been named second star on Oct. 30. Shittu is also being honoured for the second time, having previously been third star on Dec. 4. Stevenson appears for the first time this season.
1st star: Brett Smythe, F, men's hockey
St. Albert, AB, second-year, Commerce
The second-year forward recorded a six-point weekend in leading the Griffins to back-to-back blowout wins over the Portage College Voyageurs.
Driving a good portion of the Griffins' offence over the weekend, the speedy St. Albert native produced in all situations.
On Friday in Lac La Biche, Alta., Smythe drew three assists in a 10-0 win.
On Saturday at the Downtown Community Arena, he scored twice and added a helper in a 10-1 victory.
The reigning MacEwan University male rookie of the year continues to shine in his second season with the Griffins as he's now second in team scoring with 13 goals and 22 points in 18 games. His goals total is tied for second-best in the ACAC.
2nd star: Abdullah Shittu, F, men's basketball
Edmonton, AB, second-year, Arts
With his first of five blocks on Friday at UBC-Okanagan, the second-year forward broke the MacEwan single season record for most in a Canada West season, passing Denzel James, who had 28 in 2016-17.
Additionally, Shittu's five blocks tied a school record for the most in a Canada West game. Teammate Dustin Gatzki also had five in a game against Manitoba last season.
On Friday, Shittu also had 16 points, five rebounds and a steal in an 83-81 loss to the Heat.
On Saturday, he had seven points, seven rebounds, an assist, a steal and two more blocks.
That runs his season total to 35, which moves him into the top 20 blocking seasons in Canada West men's basketball history.
Shittu is currently second in the statistic in Canada West to Mount Royal's Patrick Vandervelden, who has 42, but the latter only has two regular season games left to Shittu's four.
Abdullah Shittu gets a hand in the face of UBCO's Jacob Stokker on Friday in Kelowna. He had five blocks in the game to break one school record and tie another (Cary Mellon photo).
3rd star: McKenna Stevenson, MB, women's volleyball
Sturgeon County, AB, fourth-year, Arts
While it was a tough weekend for the Griffins from a team perspective, Stevenson continued her strong play in the middle with solid numbers in a pair of 3-1 losses to Mount Royal University.
On Friday, she had nine kills on a .276 percentage, adding seven blocks, three digs and an ace to account for 15.0 points, second on the team.
On Saturday, she led the Griffins with 13 kills and 15.0 points on a .267 percentage, adding three digs, an ace and two blocks.
For the season, Stevenson continues her rare feat – leading the Griffins in kills despite playing in the middle. She has 129 in 16 games, while also leading the Griffins in blocks with 69.
McKenna Stevenson (11) celebrates a point against Mount Royal University with teammate Zoe Cronin on the weekend (Chris Piggott photo).
