BlackBerry CIS athletes of the week: UBC’s Cordonier, SMU’s Hotham honoured

OTTAWA (CIS) – British Columbia volleyball player Liz Cordonier and Saint Mary's hockey player Andrew Hotham are the BlackBerry Canadian Interuniversity Sport female and male athletes of the week for the period ending March 7, 2010.

Cordonier, a fifth-year arts major from Vancouver, was chosen tournament MVP at the CIS women's volleyball championship in Edmonton after she led the top-seeded Thunderbirds to a third straight national title. The 6-foot-1 outside hitter, who earlier last week was named CIS player of the year, tallied 32 kills and 23 digs during victories over Saint Mary's, 3-0, Laval, 3-0, and Manitoba, 3-1, including a 13-kill, 10-dig double-double in the gold-medal final against the third-ranked Bisons.

Laval volleyball player Ève Trépanier and Wilfrid Laurier hockey player Liz Knox were also nominated for the women's award.

Hotham, a third-year commerce student from Barrie, Ont., exploded for nine points in two games to help the No. 8-ranked Huskies close out their AUS semifinal series against No. 4 Acadia and take a 1-0 lead over No. 10 StFX in the conference final. The 6-foot-two, 190-pound defenceman, who led all CIS rearguards in scoring this season with 39 points in 27 outings, had a career night last Wednesday scoring four goals and adding a pair of assists in a series-clinching 9-2 win over the Axemen. He added three assists on Sunday as the Huskies opened the best-of-three AUS final with a 7-1 victory over the X-Men.

McGill hockey player Francis Verreault-Paul, Queen's volleyball player Joreen Zeeman and Alberta volleyball player Thomas Jarmoc were the other male nominees.

Female nominees:

AUS: No nominee this week

QSSF: Ève Trépanier, volleyball, Laval

OUA: Liz Knox, hockey, Wilfrid Laurier

Canada West: Liz Cordonier, volleyball, UBC (recipient)

Male nominees:

AUS: Andrew Hotham, hockey, Saint Mary's (recipient)

QSSF: Francis Verreault-Paul, hockey, McGill

OUA: Joren Zeeman, volleyball, Queen's

Canada West: Thomas Jarmoc, volleyball, Alberta

-CIS-