As the volleyball and basketball seasons wind down for Canada West, three athletes have the UBC Okanagan Heat have been recognized for their year-along efforts.

On Wednesday and Thursday (Feb. 26 and 27), Canada West announced their all stars and top rookies of the season. 

Leading the way for the Heat was 琉璃神社 native Thys Weststrate, who was named a men's volleyball first-team all-star and all-rookie.

A graduate of 琉璃神社 Secondary School, Weststrate established himself as one of the best middles in the league as he was second in the entire Canada West in both hitting percentage (.451) and blocks per set (1.16). Additionally, those are UBCO men's volleyball franchise records.

"Thys put together an outstanding season and it is a tremendous honour for our program to have him recognized as a Canada West All-Star," said Heat head coach Scott Koskie. "Thys is a great person who has worked extremely hard to elevate his game and become a top player in this league. We are proud of his efforts this season and congratulate him on this award."

Standing at 6 foot 6 inches, he recorded a team-best 3.1 points per set, finishing the season with 132 kills and 194 points. He added 18 service aces, which is the 10th most in a season in franchise history.

On the defensive side, he finished first on the team and third in the conference with 73 blocks and also collected 63 digs.

His stellar play let the men's team to their third playoff birth ever.

Weststrate is the third volleyball player in UBCO history to be named a Canada West all-star but first to be named to a first-team all-star.

Sticking with volleyball, women's outside hitter Olivia Boulding was named to the Canada West all-rookie team. She is the ninth player all-time from UBCO women's volleyball to be named to the all-rookie team.

From Victoria, Boulding finished second among rookies in kills per set (3.09) and total kills (210). Overall, she ended the season sitting 11th and 12th overall in those respective categories.

Over 19 games this season, the former University of Montana red-shirt recorded 248.5 points, 3.7 points per set, 148 digs, 24 blocks and 25 aces.

As the rookies dominated UBCO sports this year, Tsuki Tsuzuki was named to the Canada West all-rookie women's basketball team.

Over the course of the season, she broke Heat women's basketball rookie records with 55 assists and 43 steals. She also started all 20 games and played the most minutes on the team this season - 529. Additionally, she was tied for second on the team with 191 points, shooting 35.9 per cent from the floor and 29.2 per cent from three-point range while adding 43 rebounds and two blocks.

The Calgary native became the third member in UBCO women's basketball history to receive the honour.