First impressions
Brock players receive OUA rookie of year awards in men’s V-ball, women’s hockey
The rebirth of the men’s volleyball program at Brock University this season was not without its growing pains.
Going 1-9 in their past 10 games, the Badgers finished league play last in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West Division with a 3-14 record and failed to make the playoffs.
However, the program’s future looks bright with John Elgersma honoured by the OUA as the division’s top rookie for 2016-17.
This marks the first time a Brock player has been selected rookie of the year in men’s volleyball.
The 6-foot-9 right side from Wellandport appeared in 13 regular-season games and finished among the top 10 in scoring with 0.35 service aces per set. His 3.3 points per set was 13th best in the OUA.
The medical sciences major didn’t just make his presence on the court felt from the service line in his first season with the Badgers. Despite seeing action in just 43 sets, he recorded 19 solo blocks at the net to finish in the top 10.
Matthew Ragogna’s impact on, and off, the court in his first year in the Brock lineup was recognized when he was presented with the Dale Iwanoczko Sportsman Award.
When the 6-foot-3 left side from Tottenham, Ont., southwest of Barrie, wasn’t practising or playing volleyball at Brock, he was involved in the sport at the community level. For the past five years the physical education major has volunteered with the Niagara Rapids club team as an assistant coach on the organization’s under-6 boys team.
Now that his OUA season is over, Ragogna will resume fulltime coaching duties with the team.
He served as an assistant coach with the Badgers women’s team before the return of men’s volleyball to the Brock varsity lineup.
Ragogna, along with teammates from the men’s team, organized clinics with boys teams and ran free clinics during physical education classes at public elementary schools in Niagara.
He played in 17 games, ranked third in team scoring with 1.43 kills per set and finished the season with 105 points.
Ragogna is the first Brock player to receive the Dale Iwanoczko Sportsman Award from the
OUA. Award of Merit
Brock University women’s volleyball player Lauren Kniewasser is the 2017 OUA Award of Merit recipient.
In addition to being a full-time volunteer program worker with SNAP (Special Needs Activity Program), which tailors physical activity to youth in the region with various disabilities, the Ottawa native is a peer mentor with Pathstone Mental Health.
On campus, the honours psychology major, with a minor in indigenous studies; volunteers with a Student Athletic Mental Health Initiative (SAMHI) group helping design creative ways to promote mental health and wellness education.
The 2016 Academic All-Canadian and triple-sport athlete — Kniewasser also rows and plays rugby — is just the second Brock student athlete to win the OUA Award of Merit since it was first presented in 1997.
Shauna Peddle received the honour in 2009.
First all-star team
Andrew Radjenovic’s best season in four years playing men’s university hockey at Brock did not go unnoticed.
The OUA named the Hamilton arts major to the first all-star team after he led the Badgers in scoring with 12 goals and 19 assists and finished 10th in the province in points, with 31, and 12th in assists.
Radjenovic, 25, is the first Brock men’s hockey player to make the first all-star team since Todd Zavitz in 1995-96.
In 2014-15 Radjenovic had three goals and five assists in 22 games with the Bakersfield, Calif., Condors of the ECHL.
Top rookies
Brock teammates Annie Berg and Kaitlyn Colonna ended their first year playing women’s university hockey as OUA allstars. Berg, a concurrent education major from Beamsville, was selected rookie of the year after finishing seventh in the province in points and, along with Colonna, a kinesiology major from Mississauga, was named to the all-rookie team.
Berg, in the lineup for all of the team’s 24 games, scored 12 goals and assisted on 11 others to pace the Badgers with 23 points. She had six multi-point games and never went more than two games without registering a point.
“It is fantastic to see Annie get recognized with such an honour,” Brock women’s hockey head coach Margot Page said. “She is such a driven person, she puts in a lot of extra time with added workouts and video sessions to ensure she is her best out there.
“Annie has shown she has the ability to be a big difference maker on the ice. This is not just with her skill set, but by making those around her better.”
Lauren Hoogasian, in 200304, was the last Badger to earn top rookie honours in women’s hockey.
Colonna, a defenceman, also appeared in all of her team’s games in league play. She collected nine assists to place fourth in scoring.
“Kaitlyn is very much a student of the game and such a pleasure to coach,” Page said. “You can lay out a play or tactic for her and she to able to adjust and execute.”
Soccer top kick
A man who played semi-pro soccer in his native England as well as the U.S. before moving to Canada is taking over the women’s soccer program at Brock University.
“Brock sports got a lot better, both on and off the pitch, with the hiring of Kevin,” athletic director Neil Lumsden said in introducing Kevin Trethowan as the team’s head coach.
Trethowan spent seven years coaching professionally in Europe and the U.S. He moved to Toronto three years ago and joined the Ryerson Rams men’s team as goalkeeping coach.
“Kevin’s commitment to foster a winning culture goes hand-inhand with the objectives we have for our soccer program,” Jesse Barraza, interim assistant athletic director at Brock, said. “We are confident he will have an immediate impact.”
Trethowan’s coaching qualifications include CSA national B licence, NSCAA Level 3 and English FA Levels 2 and 2 GK.