2022-23 Griffins Awards: Introducing our Female Athlete of the Year finalists
March 29, 2023

2022-23 Griffins Awards: Introducing our Female Athlete of the Year finalists

MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Another season of Griffins Athletics is in the books with big wins and great memories to cherish.

Excellence was evident on the field, court and ice as MacEwan student-athletes displayed character, commitment and talent throughout the 2022-23 season.

As we count down to the our annual MacEwan Griffins' Awards Banquet this Saturday we will be revealing the finalists for our major awards in the following order:

Monday: Male Rookie of the Year

Tuesday: Female Rookie of the Year

Today: Female Athlete of the Year

Thursday: Male Athlete of the Year

Friday: Academic Team of the Year and Team of the Year

Here are the three finalists for Female Athlete of the Year (in alphabetical order by last name):  

Mariah Bereziuk, women's volleyball

Recording the most prolific production the program has seen since 2017-18 MacEwan Female Athlete of the Year Cassidy Kinsella, Bereziuk accounted for 36 per cent of the Griffins' attack in 2022-23. Bereziuk finished in the top 10 in Canada West in kills, kills/set, points and points/set. Despite being the one every opponent game-planned for, Bereziuk still led the Griffins in kills in 22 of the team's 24 matches this season.

Notable 2022-23 stats:

279 kills (1st MacEwan, T7th CW, T10th U SPORTS)

3.40 kills/set (1st MacEwan, 5th CW, 12th U SPORTS)

319.0 points (1st MacEwan, 9th CW, 13th U SPORTS)

3.9 points/set (1st MacEwan, T8th CW, T16th U SPORTS)

169 digs (2nd MacEwan, 32nd CW, T71st U SPORTS)

Awards & Honours:

• MacEwan Sandman Player of the Month (November) 

• Made the MacEwan Athletics' Three Stars of the Week list three times (1st star – Nov. 29; 2nd star – Nov. 1, Feb. 21).

Notable accomplishments: 

• Finished with 279 kills (5th most in the program's history) 

• Her 3.40 kills/set average is also fifth-best in program history and fourth-best by a Griffin in a Canada West season 

• Her 319.0 points was fifth-best in program history, while her 3.9 points/set average was fourth  

• Tied for ninth in most kills by a Griffin in a CW match with 21 at Brandon on Nov. 25, 2022.

 Mariah Bereziuk's 279 kills in 2022-23 was tied for seventh best in Canada West and tied for 10th in the country (Eduardo Perez photo).

Grace Mwasalla, women's soccer

In one of the most dominant seasons by any MacEwan student-athlete in school history, Mwasalla broke three program records and tied three others (see below), and became just the second Griffin to make a U SPORTS first all-star team. Her stats (see below) - chief among them leading Canada West in goals - speak for themselves, but they don't show the competitive fire that makes Mwasalla a winner. Fierce on the pitch, Mwasalla is always pushing her limits and striving for more. She's a natural leader with a strong sense of community service, making everyone around her better on and off the pitch.

Notable 2022 stats:

15 goals (1st MacEwan, 1st CW, 2nd U SPORTS)

17 points (1st MacEwan, T2nd CW, T4th U SPORTS)

40 shots (2nd MacEwan, T8th CW, T15th U SPORTS)

25 shots on goal (2nd MacEwan, 5th CW, T9th U SPORTS)

Awards & Honours:

• U SPORTS first team all-star

• Canada West first team all-star 

• Runner-up for Canada West player of the year 

• U SPORTS women's soccer player of the week (Sept. 20) 

• Two-time Canada West women's soccer player of the week (Sept. 20 and Oct. 11)

• MacEwan Sandman Player of the Month (September) 

• Made the MacEwan Athletics' Three Stars of the Week list four times (1st star – Sept. 20, Oct. 4, Oct. 11; 3rd star – Aug. 30) 

• Four-time player of the game

Records broken: 

• Broke the all-time program record (Canada West and ACAC) for most goals in a season (15) that topped ACAC record holders Amy Ziprick (14 in 1995) and MacEwan Wall of Distinction member Paty Batallas (14 in 1997)

• Broke the program points record (17), which is four better than the previous Canada West record (Suekiana Choucair in 2019)

• Her .375 shooting percentage in 2022 broke the program's CW record

• Tied the program record for most goals in a CW game (4) against Winnipeg on Oct. 2, 2022 – performance which also tied the program's single game points record (4)

• Although she has only played two seasons for MacEwan, Mwasalla is tied for the most career goals in the program's CW history with 20 and sits third in career points (25)

• She's also tied for eighth in career shots (57), seventh in career shots on goal (37) and is tied for sixth in career game-winning goals (4).

Notable accomplishments:

• Her team-leading 40 shots in 2022 is the fifth-most by a Griffin in CW play, while her 25 shots on goal is tied for fourth

• Her eight-shot game against Lethbridge on Oct. 9, 2022 and seven-shot performance against Winnipeg on Oct. 2, 2022 sit T7th and T10th for the most by a Griffin in a CW contest 

• Mwasalla had six shots on goal against Winnipeg on Oct. 2, which is tied for third in the program's CW history.

 Grace Mwasalla broke the MacEwan women's soccer all-time record for most goals in a season with 15 - a total which led Canada West (Rich Lam, UBC Athletics).

Brianna Sank, women's hockey

On a team that scored an average of just 1.39 goals per game in 2022-23, their workhorse goaltender needed to be their best player every night to give them a chance. On most nights, she was. Sank played the third-most minutes of any goaltender in U SPORTS and her stats across the board were top 10 in the conference. The highlight of her season came in January when she stopped 198 of 213 shots in leading the Griffins to three of their six wins on the season.

Notable 2022-23 stats:

1,377:04 minutes played (1st MacEwan, 3rd CW, 3rd U SPORTS)

641 saves (1st MacEwan, 2nd CW, 2nd U SPORTS)

2.66 GAA (1st MacEwan, 9th CW, 39th U SPORTS)

.913 save percentage (1st MacEwan, 9th CW, 36th U SPORTS)

6 wins (1st MacEwan, T8th CW , T28th U SPORTS)

Awards & Honours:

• MacEwan Sandman Player of the Month (January) 

• Made the MacEwan Athletics' Three Stars of the Week list three times (1st star – Jan. 17, Jan. 31; 3rd star – Oct. 11).

Records broken:

• Broke program's CW record for most saves in a game (47 vs. UBC on Oct. 29, 2022) 

• Broke the program's overall record (CW and ACAC) for most minutes played by a goaltender in a season (1,377:04), topping Sandy Heim's 1,320:27 from 2016-17 

• Also broke the program's overall record for most saves in a season (641), topping Trina Hamm's 535, set in 2001-02 

• Set new CW program records for minutes played, saves, goals against average (2.66), wins (6) and longest shutout streak (111:01 from Jan. 13-20, 2023).

Notable accomplishments:

• Moved into third in the program's all-time history in career saves (1,064) and most minutes played (2,542:21) – both also tops in the program's CW history.

Brianna Sank had a workhorse season in 2022-23, snapping all-time program records for most minutes played and most saves (Joel Kingston photo).