Brett LeDrew named Student-Athlete Community Service Award winner

The 2014-15 recipient of the AUS student-athlete community service award and nominee for the CIS Dale Iwanoczko award is Brett LeDrew of the UNB Varsity Reds.

The nominee for this award is a player exhibiting outstanding achievement in volleyball, academics and community involvement.

This is the third consecutive year a player from the Varsity Reds squad is taking home the honour. Former UNB standout Logan Keoughan received the award in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

LeDrew, a 6-foot-6 middle in his fifth year of eligibility, led the conference in total blocks with 62, including a league-leading 49 block assists. He also led UNB and was second in the conference in blocks per set with 1.15.

LeDrew led the Varsity Reds in service aces (12) and service aces per set (0.22). He also contributed 73 kills, 144 total attacks and 122.5 points for UNB over the course of the regular season.

A native of Clarenville, N.L.,  LeDrew is currently completing a bachelor of science in chemical engineering at UNB. He is a two-time CIS academic all-Canadian with a cumulative GPA of 3.6 and is on pace to receive the same recognition this year.

LeDrew is active in the community in both his hometown of Clarenville, N.L. and in Fredericton, N.B. He is a Fredericton Reds grassroots boys volleyball coach, coaching boys ages 5 to 10 on Sundays each fall. LeDrew has been a part of this program for all of his five years at UNB.

In Clarenville, he has been involved in literacy promotion efforts for the past two years, reading to Grade 2 students in his hometown as well as in St. John's.

"Brett has been an excellent student-athlete over his five years with the Varsity Reds, being a consistent leader in each of the three categories that define this award," said UNB head coach Dan McMorran. "More importantly, he has also been an excellent person, both on and off the court, and a great teammate. We are very proud of him, as he is a very worthy recipient of this prestigious award."

The CIS Dale Iwanoczko award has been awarded to a number of AUS men's volleyball athletes in recent years. UNB's Jacob Kilpatrick (2010-11), Dalhousie's Nik Rademacher (2007-08), Jeff Weiler (2005-06), Chris Geddes (2002-03) and Paul Villeneuve (1993-94) are all previous recipients of the prestigious CIS award.

Other AUS major award winners announced today were Dalhousie's Bryan Duquette, named most valuable player; Memorial's Jordan Smith of Clarenville, N.L., who was named rookie of the year; Dalhousie's Adam Sandeson of Lower Truro, N.S., who was selected as the libero of the year; and Dalhousie head coach Dan Ota, who was named the AUS men's volleyball coach of the year.

2014-15 AUS MEN'S VOLLEYBALL ALL-STAR TEAM:

Members of the 2014-15 Atlantic University Sport men's volleyball all-star team, as selected by the three head coaches, are as follows:

All-Star Team:
Bryan Duquette, Dalhousie (5^th year – St. Thomas, Ont.)
Jonathan MacDonald, Dalhousie (4^th year – Halifax, N.S.)
Craig Toonders, UNB (5^th year – Navan, Ont.)
Kristen O'Brien, Dalhousie (3^rd year, - Truro, N.S.)
Marc White, UNB (5^th year, New Maryland, N.B.)
Ryan Colpitts, UNB (2^nd year, Fredericton, N.B.)

The 2015 Subway Atlantic University Sport men's volleyball championship is a best two-of-three series between the Dalhousie Tigers (16-1) and UNB Varsity Reds (8-9).

The championship schedule is as follows:

Saturday, Feb. 7
Match #1: UNB at Dalhousie, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 14
Match #2: Dalhousie at UNB 2 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 21
Match #3 (*if necessary): UNB at Dalhousie, 7:30 p.m.

All matches of the AUS championship series will be webcast at www.AUStv.ca.

The AUS champion will advance to the 2015 CIS men's volleyball championship, Feb. 26-28, 2015, hosted by the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Sask.

With files from Atlantic University Sport