Abbotsford, BC – University of the Fraser Valley varsity athletes Kevon Parchment and Nicole Blandford have been named their respective conferences’ athletes of the week.
Parchment, a fifth-year guard with the Cascades men’s basketball team, is the Canada West male first star of the week across all sports, after leading his squad to a pair of weekend victories over the UNBC Timberwolves.
Blandford, a fifth-year setter, is the PacWest women’s volleyball athlete of the week. She sparked the Cascades to an upset victory on the road last Saturday over the Vancouver Island University Mariners, who were ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time.
• Parchment continued his sparkling senior season with a pair of tremendous all-around performances against UNBC.
The Scarborough, Ont. product registered 16 points, 12 rebounds and three assists on Friday to spark a fourth-quarter comeback, and UFV prevailed 63-56. In Saturday’s rematch, he racked up 16 points, 11 boards, five assists and five steals as the Cascades won 62-47.
Parchment also spearheaded a stingy defensive effort which saw the Cascades limit UNBC star Rhys Elliott to 9.5 points per game on the weekend. Elliott was second in Canada West scoring coming in, averaging 22.1 points.
Parchment is the only player in the conference in the top 10 in all five major counting stats: points (17.4, seventh), rebounds (9.1, fourth), assists (5.1, second), blocks (1.6, fifth) and steals (2.0, sixth).
• Blandford was nothing short of spectacular in the Cascades’ victory over VIU last Saturday.
Coming off a four-set loss to the PacWest-leading Mariners on Friday in Nanaimo, the Surrey, B.C. product was dominant in the rematch. Blandford registered 44 assists and 10 digs, but it was at the service line where she was most impressive. She served an incredible 41 times in UFV’s five-set win, putting 93 per cent of them in bounds and notching eight aces (one every five serves). She was particularly sharp in the fifth set, serving her team to a 5-0 lead and registering three solo blocks.
Blandford ranks fourth in the PacWest in total aces with 32, and eighth in aces per set at 0.50.
• The Cascades basketball teams are on the road to face the MacEwan Griffins on Friday (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.) and Saturday (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.) in Edmonton. The games will be broadcast online at ufv.canadawest.tv.
The volleyball teams are on a bye this weekend, and return to action Jan. 30-31 at home vs. the College of the Rockies Avalanche.
