Three Stars: Farmer, Gorman, McGee earn honours
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Women's basketball student-athlete Mackenzie Farmer is the MacEwan Athletics' first star of the week after scoring 55 points in two games against Lethbridge on the weekend.
Farmer scored a career-high 30 points on Friday – tied for the fourth-best single game output since MacEwan joined Canada West in 2014 – and followed that up with 25 points on Saturday.
Men's volleyball student-athlete Mitchel Gorman and women's volleyball middle Sarah McGee are the second and third stars, respectively.
It's the third time this season that Farmer has been named to the Three Stars list, following a second star on Nov. 8 and first star nod on Jan. 10.
Both Gorman and McGee are appearing for the first time in 2022-23.
1st STAR: Mackenzie Farmer, F, women's basketball
Sherwood Park, AB, fifth-year, Arts
On the final road trip of her illustrious Canada West career, Mackenzie Farmer reaffirmed why she's one of the best to ever play for the MacEwan women's basketball program, scoring 55 points for a team that had only eight healthy players.
Farmer carried the Griffins with 30 points in Friday's 92-84 defeat, setting a new career high as just the sixth player in program history to score 30 or more in a Canada West regular season game.
In playing 38 of a possible 40 minutes on Friday, Farmer went 14-for-16 from the free throw line, breaking her own program record of 12/13, set last month against Trinity Western. She also added five rebounds, four assists and a steal.
In Saturday's 81-67 loss, Farmer again led the Griffins with 25 points, showing off a different side of her offensive game – going 5-for-8 on three-pointers – and added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in 37 minutes on the court.
It was also a milestone weekend for Farmer, who moved into third in all-time career scoring for MacEwan's storied women's basketball history (across all eras dating back to the 1970s) and enters the final weekend of her career with 1,126 career points.
The Griffins host Regina on Friday and Saturday (both 6 p.m., David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
Mitch Gorman led the Griffins with 27 kills and 28 digs over eight sets during a weekend sweep of the Thompson Rivers WolfPack (Eduardo Perez photo).
2nd STAR: Mitch Gorman, OH/LB, men's volleyball
Grande Prairie, AB, second-year, Music
Since the calendar flipped to 2023, Mitch Gorman has earned his way into the starting lineup for the Griffins in seven of their last eight matches after starting the season coming off the bench.
His game took another step forward in a home series vs. Thompson Rivers University Feb. 3-4 as he led MacEwan to a weekend sweep for the first time since 2018 with 27 kills and 28 digs over eight sets.
In Friday's 3-1 win over the WolfPack, Gorman had a career night with 15 kills on a .267 hitting percentage, adding a match-high 16 digs and an ace, accounting for 16.0 points.
In Saturday's 3-1 victory, Gorman had the decisive serve on match point that led to an over-bump and a won joust by Jonah Karsten to seal victory.
M��| SWEEP!��@MacEwanU has the weekend sweep with a 3-1 win over @GoTRUWolfPack as Mitch Gorman's serve on match point leads to another net battle won by the Griffins! Stay tuned for a recap.@CanadaWest #GriffNation pic.twitter.com/P8G214HKWo
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) February 5, 2023
Gorman produced 12 kills on a .385 hitting percentage, adding 12 digs, an ace an accounting for 13.0 points.
For the season, Gorman is fourth on the Griffins with 70 kills and third on the team with 78 digs.
He leads MacEwan into action against UBC Okanagan in Kelowna, B.C. on Friday (6 p.m. MT) and Saturday (4 p.m. MT, both Canada West TV).
Sarah McGee tips an attack over the Thompson Rivers block on Friday. She led the Griffins to a weekend sweep over the WolfPack with 10 blocks over two nights (Eduardo Perez photo).
3rd STAR: Sarah McGee, MB, women's volleyball
Edmonton, AB, second-year, Arts
The paint isn't even dry yet on Sarah McGee's signature masterpiece moment of MacEwan's weekend sweep over Thompson Rivers University – a left-handed block on match point that sent the David Atkinson Gym into a frenzy last Saturday.
The middle blocker had a terrific evening in leading the Griffins to a 3-0 win over the WolfPack that sealed their first home weekend sweep of the Canada West season.
W��| SWEEP��
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) February 5, 2023
How about a full weekend sweep for both @MacEwanU volleyball teams!
Some great D by Madison Hoppus, followed by a huge block by Sarah McGee nets the Griffins a 3-0 win over @GoTRUWolfPack in @CanadaWest action. Stay tuned for a recap.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/EiyqbIb1Nw
In just three sets on Saturday, McGee had nine kills on a .471 hitting percentage, adding six blocks and three digs, while accounting for a match-high 15.0 points.
In Friday's 3-2 win over the WolfPack, McGee had six kills, three service aces, four blocks and four digs in accounting for 13.0 points.
For the season, McGee leads the Griffins with 49 blocks and is second on the team in kills (81) and points (127.0).
McGee leads the Griffins out on the road this weekend at UBC Okanagan in Kelowna, B.C. on Friday (8 p.m. MT) and Saturday (6 p.m. MT, both Canada West TV).
