Three Stars: Kinsella, Jewell, Njaa earn honours
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Cassidy Kinsella is the MacEwan Athletics first star of the week after her performance against arguably the best women's volleyball team in Canada last weekend.
Kinsella led the charge as the 2-20 Griffins pushed the 19-3 Calgary Dinos with 38 kills in eight sets over the weekend which moved her into second in the Canada West career kills list.
Other athletes recognized this week include second star Carley Jewell of the women's hockey team and third star Brett Njaa of the men's hockey team.
Kinsella is being honoured for the fourth time this season, having previously been named third star on Oct. 8 and Nov. 13 and second star on Jan. 16. Both Njaa and Jewell are making their first appearances of the season on the list.
1st STAR: Cassidy Kinsella, OH, women's volleyball
Leduc, AB, fifth-year, Science
The 2-20 MacEwan Griffins gave the 19-3 Calgary Dinos a handful in two weekend matches thanks to veteran outside hitter Cassidy Kinsella.
The best player on either side of the court over the weekend, Kinsella consistently found a way to score against Canada West's top team, recording 38 kills and accounting for 40.0 points over eight sets on Friday and Saturday.
She was also a defensive force with 26 total digs as the Griffins pushed the Dinos in their own gym.
As a result of the weekend production, Kinsella moved from fourth to second on the Canada West career kills list with 1260 in four seasons. She only trails former Alberta Pandas star Meg Casault (1321).
Kinsella also moved into third on the conference career points list with 1442.0, with only Casault (1513.0) and former TWU Spartans star Sophie Carpentier (1472.5) ahead of her.
Kinsella has two games remaining in her Canada West career as the Griffins host the Winnipeg Wesmen this weekend.
2nd STAR: Carley Jewell, D, women's hockey
Winnipeg, AB, third-year, Science
Leading a concerted team effort in their first game back after a bye week, the Griffins defenceman had a goal and two assists as MacEwan whipped Olds 5-1 on Saturday.
Chantal Ricker converted the rebound off a Jewell shot in the first period and Amanda Murray put a sweet Jewell dish home in the third.
In between, the defenceman scored a nice one herself by muscling off a defender down the left wing and knifing a backhand under the blocker of Olds goalie Jaydlin Spooner.
For the season, Jewell leads the Griffins with five goals and 17 points in 21 games and is tied with NAIT's Carlin Boey as the top scoring rearguard in the ACAC even though she has played one less game.
Carley Jewell's second period backhander is set to go under the blocker of Olds goalie Jaydlin Spooner last Saturday (Len Joudrey photo).
3rd STAR: Brett Njaa, F, men's hockey
Birch Hills, SK, third-year, Commerce
The Griffins' leading scorer was the only MacEwan player to solve Concordia goalie Tanner McCorriston in regulation on Friday night, even though they fired 51 shots on net.
Njaa cruised in on a short-handed breakaway at 14:59 of the opening period, deking him out before deftly sliding the puck between the wickets.
Njaa scored again in the third period, but the goal was waved off due to goalie interference.
But it was in double overtime when he showed his true resolve, charging to the net and getting the Griffins' 54th shot of the game off. That was stopped, but Njaa flipped the puck back over McCorriston to teammate Sean MacTavish, who scored the winner on MacEwan's 55th shot of the contest for 2-1 triumph.
For the season, Njaa has 12 goals and 27 points in 24 games, tied for eighth in the conference.
Brett Njaa gets a golden opportunity on Concordia goalie Tanner McCorriston during last Friday's contest. He finished with a goal and an assist to lead the Griffins to a 2-1 double overtime win (Len Joudrey photo).
