On March 27th, Brock held their annual Brock Badgers Awards Gala at the Americana Conference Resort Spa & Waterpark in Niagara Falls.
After another successful season for the whole Badgers athletics program, the headline of the event was the awards for Brock’s Athlete of the Year.
On the women’s side, emerging out of a stacked class of nominees was Sara Rohr, the setter for Brock’s women’s volleyball team.
“I wanted to say a huge thank you to my teammates,” said Rohr in her acceptance speech. “You all are my best friends and this award wouldn’t be possible without you guys. You guys all make me look really good,” she joked.
Leading the Badgers to their third consecutive Quigley Cup victory and one of the program’s highest National rankings, Rohr set a new standard—both for the team and for herself—in terms of play and leadership.
Finishing her fifth year with Brock, Rohr has been a staple for the Badgers since her debut.
“For any athletes that are debating coming back for their final year of eligibility, it’s totally worth it,” said Rohr.
Rohr checked into her first OUA game with Brock on Oct. 24th, 2018, recording six assists while only playing a single set in a 3-1 loss to TMU (formerly Ryerson). Only three days later, she played all four sets against the University of Toronto, leading both teams with 24 assists in only her second OUA regular season game.
Ever since then, Rohr has been on a meteoric rise.
In 2021-22, Rohr elevated to establish herself as one of the best players in the OUA, finishing second in the league in assists and assists-per-set, leading to an OUA First Team All-Star selection. The following year, Rohr was able to improve, this time leading the OUA with 9.80 assists-per-set in 2022-23, bringing her another First Team selection.
This season, Rohr was even better.
Rohr led the OUA again with 643 assists and 10.90 assists per set, almost 2.2 more than second place (which was more than the difference between second and 12th).
While the Badgers fell short in the National Championship, Rohr still received plenty of recognition. Unsurprisingly, Rohr was again an OUA First Team selection, in addition to a U Sports First Team selection and 2024’s OUA Player of the Year. Rohr leaves the Badgers with a program record of 2475 career assists.
This was a well-deserved win from one of Brock’s best.
As mentioned, Rohr faced some steep competition to come away with this year’s award.
Captain of the women’s soccer team, junior centre back Grace Tawil was another one of the nominees. In 2023, the Badgers made the playoffs for the second year in a row under Tawil’s stewardship, an accomplishment she played no small part in.
Tawil contributed stellar, solidifying defence throughout 1143 minutes this season, reaching 90 minutes in all but two of her 13 matches. Tawil was named to the OUA’s Second All-Star Team.
Next, Brock rowing’s twin-sister duo of Isabella and Zoe Durcak were co-nominated for their impressive seasons at both the provincial and national stage.
The Durcaks were instrumental in Brock’s OUA bronze medal, finishing first in the women’s lightweight double and second in the lightweight four, delivering them both OUA All-Star selections.
At the Canadian University Rowing Championships, the Durcaks continued their dominance, winning the women’s lightweight double and again being named All-Stars of the competition.
However, likely the two biggest challengers for Rohr’s award were Brianna Fraser of the wrestling team and Madalyn Weinert of the basketball team.
Fraser’s efforts this season were nothing short of heroic.
Not only did Fraser win every match of the season, she won every decision in the first round. As such, Fraser won her second consecutive OUA and U Sports gold medals, was named a First Team All-Star at both the OUA and U Sports championships, and even placed third in the 2023 Canadian Olympic Trials in the 76-kilogram weight class.
Since she joined the Badgers in 2021, Weinert has played a key role for the Badgers in every facet of the game.
Weinert was an OUA Second Team All Star in 2022-23 (and a nominee for Brock’s Female Athlete of the Year) after finishing third in the OUA in points-per-game (17.6), fifth in rebounds (9.2) and blocks (1.4), tenth in assists (3.2) and 24th in steals (1.5).
As 2023-24’s OUA Player of the Year and a U Sports First Team All-Canadian, Weinert was able to flesh out every area of her already diverse skillset, remaining the team’s focal point on both offence and defence. Weinert led not only the OUA but all of U Sports in points-per-game (22.5) and blocks (2). She was also fifth in the OUA in field goal percentage while taking over 100 more shots than any other player in the top five. Weinert was also fifth in rebounds per game with 9.6, fifth in steals per game with 2.5, second in assists per game with 4.5 and held a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
After such an amazing year for Badgers sport, it was great to see many of our athletes get recognized, leaving us all waiting for what 2024-25’s future stars have in store.
