BRANDON, MB – After earning individual awards at the conference level, three members of the Bobcats women's volleyball team have been recognized at the national level as well.
 
Sophomore libero Donata Huebert of the Brandon University Bobcats women's volleyball team has been named the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) libero of the year, while head coach Lee Carter has been selected as Coach of the Year.
 
Rounding out the trio of awards is freshman outside hitter Vaovai Aiono being named to the CIS All-Rookie team.
 
The awards were announced at a ceremony to commence the CIS national championship tournament in Regina this evening.
 
 
A native of Minden, Germany, Huebert was also named CIS libero of the year in her only previous season in Canada, in 2010-11.
 
The 5-foot-9 international player ranked fifth in Canada West in league play with an average of 3.64 digs per set. On January 22 against Winnipeg, she established a team record with 35 digs, the most in a four-set Canada West match since 2007.
 
"It's a little overwhelming to be recognized. It's an incredible feeling to have this honour and recognition from so many great coaches," says Huebert.
 
"I never thought about winning an individual award during the season. I don't play for stats. I play because I love the game and I love the team. The inspiration I got this year from other players, our coaches, and other people around Brandon University was motivating."
 
Her dominance in the back-court helped the Bobcats finish with a remarkable 17-5 conference mark, the best in the program's nine-year history. For her efforts, Huebert was named a first-team all-Canadian, a rare feat for a libero.
 
"Donata has been a leader since the day she arrived in Brandon," said head coach Lee Carter. "She's done a real good job of teaching our young athletes how to be professional and how to respect the sport. I think the recognition she's getting is well deserved. Nobody trains harder than her. She's the type of athlete that makes everyone around her better."
 
The other nominees were Saint Mary's Anastasia Callaghan, McGill's Daphnée-Maude André-Morin and Guelph's Kristen Almhjell.
 
 
Prior to joining the Bobcats for their inaugural campaign in 2005-06, Carter was coach of the year with Grand Prairie Regional College in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) in 2002-03.
 
This season, he operated a remarkable turnaround with the 'Cats as the team improved from an 8-14 mark a year ago to a 17-5 record, the best in program history, good for second place in the ultra-competitive Canada West conference. Brandon also reached its best-ever national ranking in 2013-14, at No. 2, including each of the last five weekly coaches' polls.
 
Statistically, the Bobcats ranked among the best teams in the country in a number of categories, including third in hitting percentage (.216) and assists per set (11.82), as well as fourth in blocking (2.79 per set).
 
"I'm very happy for Lee. He's put in a lot of hard work, in particular this year, and has found a way to get the most out of his team. They delivered great performances throughout the year," said BU athletic director Russ Paddock. "His group has worked very hard over the past year to get better and Lee played a big role in the leadership and development of that mind-set to try to be the best."
 
UNB's Jilliane Goulet, Montreal's Olivier Trudel and Toronto's Kristine Drakich were also up for coach-of-the-year honours.
 
"I'm both a little shocked and honoured," says Carter. "There's a lot of really good coaches both in Canada West and across the country so to be voted as coach of the year is great. I'm humbled and honoured."
 
Carter becomes just the third coach in the history of BU Athletics to be voted as national coach of the year, joining long-time men's basketball coach Jerry Hemmings, who won in 1980 and former men's basketball coach Barnaby Craddock, who took home the honour following the 2006-07 campaign.
 
"I was in Halifax when Barnaby won his award, and we all know how legendary of a coach Jerry was, so just to be mentioned in the same breath as those two is a great honour," Carter adds.
 
"This is a team award too. It takes everyone to win this award. It takes a commitment from everyone on the roster and coaching staff to have the type of season we had. It's not the award we were hoping for, but it's a great recognition."
 
 
Aiono finished third on the Bobcats in kills (187) and aces (20) in the regular season, and fourth on the team in digs (155) and blocks (43).

Aiono joined the Bobcats for her freshman season after playing with the New Zealand national team program the past few seasons.

Aiono's durability was on display this year as she played in every conference match for the Bobcats this season, including the two playoff matches against the UBC-Okanagan Heat.