Samantha Zacharias honoured as 2016-17 ACAC Womens Overall Athlete of the Year

Posted: April 5, 2017

CARONPORT, SK (April 5, 2017) The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is pleased to announce that Samantha Zacharias of Briercrest College and Seminary has been selected as the 2016-17 ACAC Women Player of the Year. This prestigious award was presented to Zacharias at the 2017 Briercrest Athletics Awards Night held on April 4 at Briercrest College.

Zacharias is the first female student-athlete to ever receive this award.

The outside hitter’s performance was a huge part in leading Briercrest to their best regular season since joining the ACAC (20-4 in league play, second place in the ACAC South and 8th ranking in CCAA). She led the CCAA in kills with 347 (second with 4.03 kills/set), service aces with 99 (and 1.15 aces/set), and points with 459.5 (and 5.3 points/set). Her 13 blocks ranked her 32nd in the ACAC and 178 digs ranked her 12th. She also had 14 assists which ranked her 30th in the ACAC.

Zacharias reached 1,041 kills in her career this year, making her the third women’s volleyball player in ACAC history to reach 1,000 in a career. She also broke her own ACAC record (set in 2014-15) with her 99 service aces this season.

Zacharias was also selected as the ACAC nominee for CCAA women’s volleyball Player of the Year for the third consecutive year, as well as being a CCAA All-Canadian for the third straight year. She was named CCAA Player of the Year in 2014-15.

Briercrest Athletic Director Nigel Mullan is proud to have Zacharias represent Briercrest Athletics.

“It is an honor to have Sam represent Briercrest as she competes year in and year out for us in the ACAC,” Mullan said. “She competes with a passion to succeed and the results have been impressive to say the least. We are thankful that we have her a part of our department.”

Zacharias is a fourth year BA Business Administration student. She is originally from Waldheim, SK, but now calls Caronport, SK home.

For up to date information on Briercrest Athletics, “like” us on Facebook or at gobriercrest.ca.

About the ACAC: The ACAC is the governing body for intercollegiate athletics in Alberta. Its mission is to provide competitive collegiate sport experiences, promote academic achievement and be a leader of sport development in Canada.

For more information on the ACAC, please visit our website: www.acac.ab.ca

For additional information, contact:
Nigel Mullan, Briercrest
Athletic Director  
306-631-0337                                  
nmullan@briercrest.ca                            

Mark Kosak, ACAC 
Chief Executive Officer
403-875-7329 
markk@acac.ab.ca  

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