Katie Wuttunee, Katy Klomps, and Brianna Beamish are the trio of UBC Okanagan fifth years that found themselves placed on the Canada West women's volleyball All-Star team for their work on the court this season.
KELOWNA, BC - UBC Okanagan women's volleyball continues to hit high water marks on their season, today, for the first time in the program, and in the institutions history, three players have been named to a Canada West All-Star team.
The Heat's starting middle blockers, Katy Klomps and Katie Wuttunee, both make the team for the second straight year. Outside hitter Brianna Beamish, is named to the team for the first time in her five years as an outside hitter for UBC Okanagan.
Fifteen year head coach for the UBC Okanagan Heat women's volleyball team Steve Manuel was pleased to see his 22-win team well represented on the conference all-star team.
Brianna Beamish
"There are 13 very good teams in Canada West all with a dozen or more student athletes on their roster, so to select just 14 players and call them all-stars, this year by position for the first time, it is not an easy task. Our three all-stars are very deserving, they all worked extremely hard to reach that level, but on this team we had great performances from all spots on the roster and we wouldn't have had the season we had without the hard work of the entire squad."
"Brianna Beamish has really developed into a dominant hitter over her career here," says Manuel." I think it is great that she is being rewarded for an outstanding season, and more than that an outstanding career. We tend not to feature one player offensively so to get an all-star on the outside playing on this team is a real credit to how hard Beamish works and the respect she generates from opposing coaches. Beamish has also greatly improved her service game and reception skills this season, she really was a complete player for us this year."
Brianna was eighth in total kills in the conference with 277 this season but she did so on just 711 attacks at an .273 rate her 3.26 kills per set was the sixth best mark in the conference, she was top 20 in both digs and digs per set at 208 and 2.45 respectively. Brianna spun a career high 38 aces in the 24 matches she played, over her first four seasons Brianna served a grand total of 37 aces - a span of 74 matches. Beamish was also a top point-getter in the conference finishing seventh in both total points (329.0) and points per set (3.9).
Katy Klomps
After her performance against UBC, in which she had a unique double-double with a season high of 16 kills and a career best 20 digs, she was named a Canada West Star of the Week. Brianna had 17 matches in which she reached double digits in kills, amazingly eight of those where in three set Heat victories.
"Katy Klomps is probably the best pure blocker I have ever coached," explains Manuel on his fifth year middle blocker who has been selected for the third straight year to the Canada West All-Star team. "We have often seen teams change their entire attacking strategy when Katy is in the front row and she commands respect from opposing hitters. She takes our team to an entirely differently level defensively.”
Katy came very close to putting her name at the top of every category for middle blockers in the history of Canada West, she came up a bit short playing in just 63 sets over the year. Katy finished the year with 83 total blocks to give her a career total of 490, second all-time in Canada West history. Katy also is second in career blocks per set average at 1.35, this past year she finished as the conference leader averaging 1.32 per set.
Klomps already holds the record for total blocks in a single match at 15 (November 2, 2013 vs. Mount Royal) and she also is tied for the record for most blocks in a single playoff game. Katy's 11 versus Mount Royal on February 15, 2013 is tops along with two others. This season, teams stayed away from the now three-time all-star never allowing Katy to have any huge single match block performances, instead Klomps steadily made an impact in every match. In 14 of her 20 matches played she amassed at least four blocks, three time she hit seven on the year, and was held blockless just once.
Katie Wuttunee
“What a way to cap of her career," Manuel says of Katie Wuttunee on her second straight All-Star nod. "She has worked so hard and has progressed so far in her four years here that she fashioned herself into a top middle in Canada West. I am ecstatic for her that the coaches around the league acknowledged Katie for the difference she makes on the court."
“Maybe most impressive in my mind are the intangibles that she brings to the team,” continues Manuel, “her work behind the scenes from a leadership and a team mate standpoint are immeasurable, she is a key component to our success.”
Wuttunee was a force both ways offensively she led the conference in attack rate (.345) and was 2oth in kills with 181 (2.32 k/s), defensively Katie finished with 78 blocks averaging 1.00 a set the fifth best mark in the conference. Five times Katie hit .500 or better in a match, 11 or her 24 matches played she hit .400 or better. Katie set a career high of 13 kills in a five set match versus Trinity on February 5th, she also hit .500 on that night. The next night against Trinity she spun three aces, a season high, Wuttunee finished the year with 17 aces in total.
List of Canada West All-Stars for UBC Okanagan:
2015/16: First team: Katie Wuttunee (WVB); Second team: Katy Klomps (WVB), Brianna Beamish (WVB)
2014/15: First team: Katy Klomps (WVB); Second team: Katie Wuttunee (WVB)
2013/14: Second team: Katy Klomps (WVB)
2012/13: Second team: Emily Oxland (WVB)
2011/12: Second team: Nate Speijer (MVB)
UBC Okanagan, has now earned eight Canada West All-Star awards overall since it joined the Canada West Universities Athletic Association in September of 2011.
Canada West release on the All-Stars: http://www.canadawest.org/sports/wvball/2015-16/releases/20160301wvballawards
2015-16 Canada West Women’s Volleyball First All-Star Team
Name / Position / University / Year / Hometown
Nikki Cornwall / Setter / Trinity Western University / 3rd / Coquitlam, BC
Katie Wuttunee / Middle / UBC Okanagan / 5th / North Vancouver, BC
Katie Devaney / Middle / Trinity Western University / 3rd / Port Coquitlam, BC
Iuliia Pakhomenko / Left side, outside / Thompson Rivers University / 5th / Donetsk, Ukraine
Meg Casault / Left side, outside / University of Alberta / 4th / Edmonton, AB
Eli Wendel / Opposite / Trinity Western University / 3rd / Caronport, SK
Jessie Niles / Libero / University of Alberta / 5th / Turner Valley, AB
2015-16 Canada West Women’s Volleyball Second All-Star Team
Name / Position / University / Year / Hometown
Mariah Walsh / Setter / University of Alberta / 3rd / Calgary, AB
Katy Klomps / Middle / UBC Okanagan / 5th / Surrey, BC
Beth Vinnell / Middle / University of Calgary / 2nd / Cochrane, AB
Sophie Carpentier / Left side, outside / Trinity Western University / 4th / Ottawa, ON
Brianna Beamish / Left side, outside / UBC Okanagan / 5th / Surrey, BC
Karly Janssen / Opposite / University of Alberta / 4th / Edmonton, AB
Donata Huebert / Libero / Brandon University / 4th / Minden, Germany
2015-16 Canada West Women’s Volleyball All-Rookie Team
Name / Position / University / Hometown
Carolina Alongi / Outside / Mount Royal University / Calgary, AB
Rowyn Neufeld / Left side, outside / Trinity Western University / Richmond, BC
Natasha Gordey / Libero / University of Calgary / Calgary, AB
Taylor Annala / Outside / University of Saskatchewan / Dinsmore, SK
Sydney Booker / Setter / University of Manitoba / Winnipeg, MB
McKenna Stevenson / Middle / MacEwan University / Morinville, AB
Jessica Hoskins / Middle / University of Alberta / Edmonton, AB