Three Stars: Strang, Shimoda, Isley earn honours
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Men's hockey student-athlete Ethan Strang is the MacEwan Athletics first star of the week after becoming the first Griffin to score a Canada West hat trick.
Strang tallied three times during MacEwan's 5-0 win over Manitoba last Friday.
Payton Shimoda of women's volleyball and Allee Isley of women's hockey are the second and third stars, respectively.
It's the first three stars nod of the season for all three student-athletes.
Ethan Strang looks back as his first goal of the game on Friday heads across the line. He became the first Griffins to score a hat trick in a Canada West game (Derek Harback photo).
1st STAR: Ethan Strang, F, men's hockey
Cochrane, AB, second-year, Arts
Thirteen times since the Griffins men's hockey team joined Canada West in 2021 has a MacEwan player scored two goals in a game.
Three of those instances belonged to Ethan Strang, so it seemed only a matter of time that he'd finally become the first Griffin to score a hat trick in a Canada West regular season game.
On Friday vs. Manitoba, Strang opened the scoring with the eventual game-winner in the first period before adding two late goals to complete the trick in a 5-0 MacEwan win over Manitoba.
For his efforts, Strang was named Canada West men's hockey player of the week.
In Saturday's 4-2 win over the Bisons, Strang drew an assist on Kadyn Chabot's second period tally to finish the weekend with four points.
For the season, Strang is tied for third in Canada West with five goals and is tied for the Griffins' scoring lead with six points.
The Griffins will host UBC this weekend (Friday, 7 p.m. and Saturday, 3 p.m., both Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).
Payton Shimoda had 70 assists in just seven sets over a two-game weekend sweep of the Calgary Dinos (Robert Antoniuk photo).
2nd STAR: Payton Shimoda, S, women's volleyball
Edmonton, AB, third-year, Commerce
Setting a varied attack all weekend, Shimoda racked up 70 assists over just seven sets to pace the Griffins to a series sweep over the Calgary Dinos.
The third-year setter was in fine form on Friday night's 3-1 win with a career-high 45 assists and six digs as the Griffins finished with an overall team efficiency of .204, led by double-digit kills performances by Mariah Bereziuk (16) and Danielle Jodoin (13).
The 45 assists sits just outside the top 10 for most in a single CW match in program history (46 is tied for 10th with Rebecca Martin and Kylie Schubert sharing the record of 53).
In Saturday's 3-0 win over the Dinos, Shimoda had 25 assists, eight digs, two blocks and four service aces, including the winner on match point that went sideways off a Dinos defender.
Shimoda is currently tied for top spot in Canada West with a ridiculous 10.00 assists/set average.
The Griffins head into their home-opening weekend vs. Saskatchewan on Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (3 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
Allee Isley netted three points in a weekend series against Manitoba (Joel Kingston photo).
3rd STAR: Allee Isley, F, women's hockey
Vermilion, AB, F, second-year, Science
Isley continued her strong start to the season with a three-point weekend for the Griffins in a series at Manitoba.
In Friday's 6-3 loss, the second-year forward was one of only two Griffins players to finish on the plus side of the +/- rating (+1) as she tallied a goal and an assist.
In Saturday's 4-3 defeat, Isley recorded an assist on Kori Paterson's powerplay goal in the first period.
For the season, Isley leads the Griffins with five points in eight games.
MacEwan will visit UBC this weekend in Vancouver (Friday, 8 p.m. MT and Saturday, 4 p.m. MT, both Canada West TV).
