Men’s volleyball player Thundersky Walkingbear and women’s hockey goaltender Lexi Bruce are the A&W Broncos athletes of the week for the Nov. 18-24 period.
Male athlete of the week
Walkingbear led the way in both Friday and Saturday matches for the Broncos.
Although the Broncos fell short on Friday night, they were involved in close sets, which gave Walkingbear and the rest of the team some confidence for the next day.
The second-year sports management student-athlete who hails from Saskatchewan received player of the game honours on Saturday and was the go-to for the Broncos down the stretch.
He led the way in virtually every stat and was instrumental in the split weekend which gave the Broncos their third win of the season for the first time ever in program history since the team rejoined the ACAC in 2012.
He obtained 24 kills, 23 digs and three stuff blocks.
Honourable mention went to the badminton team’s Rylan Head who, during the first ACAC tournament of the season, paired with Beau Stevensen in men’s doubles to get fifth and with Jenna Kardos in mixed doubles to place sixth.
He also accumulated 23 points overall for Olds College to help the team place third during that tournament, held Nov. 24 at the Ralph Klein Centre gym.
Female athlete of the week
Bruce was a presence between the pipes this past weekend for the Olds Broncos women's hockey team.
She demonstrated poise and composure to help the Broncos complete a weekend sweep of the NAIT Ooks for the first time in program history.
It was a back-and-forth match which saw the Broncos tie the game at three with less than a minute left in regulation to force overtime.
The sports management student-athlete from Sturgeon County made 11 saves on 12 shots in the third period to keep the game close as the Ooks pressed hard.
Saturday's rematch saw Bruce shine in net once again as she made several key saves throughout the game.
She was a brick wall in the final 10 minutes as NAIT pressured hard and had several scoring opportunities. As a result, she earned her second career shutout by making 30 saves.
Honourable mention went to Michaela Allen-Gullion of the basketball team.
On Friday, she went five for 12 from beyond the arc and had a total of 25 points in win over St. Mary’s University. She also went nine for 12 from beyond the arc in the first half and scored a total of 49 points in a win over SAIT on Saturday.
Searra Schoepfner of the volleyball team contributed eight kills, two service aces and three blocks in a loss to Medicine Hat College Friday night and eight more kills, two service aces and two blocks in Saturday afternoon’s loss.
Priyanna Ramdhani of the badminton team placed third in women’s singles and seventh with Troy Morgan in mixed doubles, achieving 14 points for Olds College.
Jadon Frank is a game day events and promotions programmer for Olds College Broncos athletics.
