Three Stars: Simard, Rolph, Breitenbach earn honours
February 17, 2026

Three Stars: Simard, Rolph, Breitenbach earn honours

MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Men's hockey student-athlete Samuel Simard is the MacEwan Athletics first star of the week after recording five points in a weekend split against rival Alberta.

His efforts were highlighted by a program record-tying four-point night in Friday's 6-2 win at Clare Drake Arena that clinched home-ice advantage for the Griffins in the first round of the playoffs.

Women's volleyball libero Kaitlin Rolph and men's volleyball outside hitter Fabian Breitenbach were named the second and third stars, respectively.

It's the first Three Stars honour of the 2025-26 season for both Simard and Rolph, while Breitenbach is making his second appearance, having been previously named second star on Oct. 21.

Samuel Simard lunges to knock the puck away from Golden Bears defenceman Blake Gustafson on a penalty kill Saturday. Simard's strong two-way play included netting five points in the weekend series (Husain Dhooma photo).

1st STAR: Samuel Simard, F, men's hockey

Okotoks, AB, third-year, Arts

With home-ice advantage in the opening round of the post-season on the line in a weekend series between Edmonton's Canada West rivals, MacEwan's captain led the way.

Simard won faceoffs, played strong defensively and led the way on the scoresheet with two goals and two assists – matching the program record by becoming the seventh Griffin with four points in a Canada West game, including doing it for the second time in his career.

Simard also had four points in a Jan. 26, 2024 contest vs. Regina.

To complete a five-point weekend, Simard added an assist in MacEwan's 5-3 loss to Alberta in Saturday's rematch and finished the season with 28 points in 28 games – second on the Griffins and tied for 18th in Canada West.

Simard and the Griffins will host Calgary in a best-of-three quarter-final series on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, if necessary (all 7 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).

Kaitlin Rolph keeps an eye on a potential blocked attack against Alberta on the weekend. The libero was electric defensively against the top-ranked team in the country (Graeme Kelly photo).

2nd STAR: Kaitlin Rolph, LB, women's volleyball

Stony Plain, AB, second-year, Arts

A huge reason why the Griffins women's volleyball team was able to push U SPORTS No. 1 Alberta on the weekend was the defensive play of libero Kaitlin Rolph, who was electric in keeping multiple points alive.

As the captain of serve-receive, she also kept MacEwan's passing in check against a tough-serving Pandas team, allowing the rest of the offence to go to work.

In Friday's 3-0 loss, she finished with 11 digs, four assists and 16 receptions.

In Saturday's 3-0 loss, Rolph had 11 digs, two assists and 15 receptions.

For the season, Rolph finished fourth in Canada West in both digs (231) and digs/set (3.12). She was also ninth in the conference in receptions with 435.

The Griffins hit the road for a Canada West Play-In best-of-three series at UFV on Friday (7 p.m. MT), Saturday (7 p.m. MT) and Sunday (4 p.m. MT, if necessary, all Canada West TV).

Fabian Breitenbach paced the Griffins' attack both nights against the nationally-ranked Golden Bears and had the decisive block that sealed a set win for MacEwan on Saturday (Graeme Kelly photo).

3rd STAR: Fabian Breitenbach, OH, men's volleyball

Stuttgart, Germany, first-year, Commerce

The signature moment of the weekend for the Griffins men's volleyball team was when Breitenbach elevated for a huge solo block on Alberta's Dylan Martens for the deciding point in a 28-26 win in the second set on Saturday.

It allowed the Griffins to take a set off the nationally-ranked Golden Bears before ultimately falling 3-1. Breitenbach finished the match with a team-high 12 kills, an ace, five digs and two blocks, accounting for 14.5 points.

The rookie outside hitter also led the Griffins' offence in Friday's 3-0 loss with five kills, an ace and two digs, accounting for 6.0 points.

For the season, Breitenbach led the Griffins with 150 kills and 172.0 points.