Three Stars: Shimoda, Farmer, Halbersma earn honours
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Women's volleyball student-athlete Payton Shimoda is the MacEwan Athletics' first star of the week after a masterful job in her first time as starting setter for the Griffins.
The rookie did a great job running MacEwan's offence and played well defensively as the Griffins took a set off of U SPORTS No. 1 Alberta during a weekend series.
Women's basketball student-athlete Mackenzie Farmer was named second star, while Colton Halbersma of men's basketball nets third-star honours.
It's the first appearance of the season for all three on the MacEwan Three Stars list.
1st STAR: Payton Shimoda, S, women's volleyball
Edmonton, AB, first-year, Commerce
Seeing the first full-time start at setter in her U SPORTS career, the Griffins rookie came up big against the No. 1-ranked team in the country on the weekend.
In Friday's 3-0 loss to Alberta, Shimoda had 22 assists, seven digs, a service ace and two kills as the Griffins took a step forward by pushing the Pandas mightily in Set 3 before falling 30-28.
On Saturday, the Griffins took a set off of Alberta for the first time this season before falling 3-1 (25-13, 23-25, 25-17, 25-16). Shimoda was again front and centre in the effort with 31 assists, eight digs, an ace and a kill.
In eight matches this season, Shimoda leads the Griffins with 107 assists and is tied for third on the team with 30 digs.
Mackenzie Farmer recorded 37 combined points in a pair of games at Lethbridge last weekend (Eduardo Perez photo).
2nd STAR: Mackenzie Farmer, F, women's basketball
Sherwood Park, AB, fourth-year, Arts
MacEwan's co-leading scorer had a solid weekend for the Griffins in a pair of weekend road games against Lethbridge.
In Friday's 80-67 loss, Farmer led the team with 20 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal.
In Saturday's 83-66 setback, the forward again led the team in scoring with 17 points, adding three boards, two assists and a steal.
For the season, Farmer is tied with Noelle Kilbreath for the team's scoring lead (13.7 points/game), leads the team in rebounding (7.3) and assists (2.5).
Colton Halbersma had the best game of his U SPORTS career last Saturday, leading the Griffins with 15 points and six rebounds (Lethbridge Sports photo).
3rd STAR: Colton Halbersma, W, men's basketball
Sherwood Park, AB, second-year, Physical Education
In just 17 minutes of action off the bench, Halbersma produced the biggest offensive output of his Griffins' career to date (15 points) to pace the Griffins on Saturday at Lethbridge.
The Sherwood Park product shot 5-for-14 from the field, jarred two threes and knocked down three free throws to lead the Griffins in an 87-50 defeat. He added six rebounds and a steal in a solid defensive effort, as well.
In Friday's 106-64 loss, Halbersma had seven points in 10 minutes off the bench.
For the season, he is averaging 4.8 points/game and 1.8 rebounds/game.
