CIS athletes of the week (#20): Saint Mary’s Smit, Laurentian’s Pasquale honoured

OTTAWA (CIS) – Kerri Smit, a volleyball player from Saint Mary’s University, and Manny Pasquale, a basketball player from Laurentian University, are the CIS female and male athletes of the week for the period ending Feb. 19, 2012.

Smit, a fifth-year arts student from Shubenacadie, N.S., was named MVP of the AUS championship last weekend in Moncton after she led the Huskies to their second Atlantic conference title in three years. The 6-foot-1 left side hitter racked up a game-high 21 kills and added 20 digs on Saturday in a four-set semifinal win over tournament host Moncton, and then resumed her domination on Sunday with 17 kills and 16 digs in a 3-1 gold-medal victory over Dalhousie. Smit, who finished first in the country this season with a 4.46 kill-per-set average and was voted league MVP for an unprecedented third time, will now lead nationally second-ranked Saint Mary’s (18-1) into the CIS championship from March 2 to 4, in Hamilton.

Sherbrooke pentathlete Pascale Délisle and hockey players Chloe Milano of York and Iya Gavrilova of Calgary were also nominated for the women’s award.

Pasquale, a third-year computer science student from Victoria averaged a remarkable 34 points per contest over the weekend as Laurentian wrapped up conference play with a 100-42 domination of RMC and an 83-74 win over Queen’s. The 6-foot point guard had a career game last Friday against the Paladins, scoring 38 points in only 14 minutes on the court thanks to a 14-of-18 effort from the field, including nine three-pointers in 11 attempts. He was once again dominant on Saturday against the Gaels with 30 points and eight rebounds. Thanks to Pasquale, who won the CIS scoring race with a 26.3 point-per-game average, the Voyageurs (11-11) will open the playoffs at home for the first time in 11 years on Wednesday when they battle Toronto (10-12) in OUA East quarter-final action.

Dalhousie volleyball player Kenneth Rauwerda, McGill hockey player Hubert Morin and Victoria basketball player Ryan MacKinnon were the other male nominees.

Female nominees:
AUS: Kerri Smit, volleyball, Saint Mary’s (recipient)
RSEQ: Pascale Délisle, track and field, Sherbrooke
OUA: Chloe Milano, hockey, York
CWUAA: Iya Gavrilova, hockey, Calgary

Male nominees:
AUS: Kenneth Rauwerda, volleyball, Dalhousie
RSEQ: Hubert Morin, hockey, McGill
OUA: Manny Pasquale, basketball, Laurentian (recipient)
CWUAA: Ryan MacKinnon, basketball, Victoria

-CIS-