Abbotsford, BC - After her dominant individual performances took the conference by storm this season, Gabrielle Attieh has been named the 2023 Canada West Women's Volleyball Player of the Year.

"I'm really thankful, and I acknowledge the amount of support that people have poured into me over the course of my volleyball career to get me to a point like this," noted Attieh. "Countless coaches, teachers, or teammates have poured into me to help me grow, inspire me, and to push me. I wouldn't be here without those people."

"I don't think that I have reached my ceiling and that's exciting for me.  I know that there is a lot of work to be done to really refine my skills, so I'm ready to work hard, and I'm also hopeful that I'll keep the trajectory going."

Attieh earns the prestigious Canada West Player of the Year award in a history-making fashion. The outside hitter becomes the first-ever Fraser Valley volleyball player to win a major Canada West award.

"Gabby did an excellent job of buying in to what it means to be a Cascade and what we are trying to build here," said Cascades head coach Janelle Rozema.

"She's the one who is going to be pushing you in the weight room, and she's on track to be an academic all-Canadian, so she was a really great example to our team in that she's not just a good volleyball player, but a well-rounded student-athlete, and person."

The fourth-year outside hitter brought esteem to a team that's seeing just its second season of Canada West action. She was a contender for Player of the Week nearly every weekend, putting together astronomical individual statistics. She led the conference in kills per set (4.34), a wide margin over the next highest swinger who posted 3.80.

An extremely smart and athletic player, Attieh seem to always know where to be and what to do to make the most of every play. Her technical skills are elite. She's the kind of player that opponents were forced to track and limit just as much as they could in order to stand a chance.

She was first in the nation in points (458.5), and convincingly first in the conference in points per set (4.9), showing her value night in and night out.

As good a hitter she was, Attieh was just as strong defensively, playing as though she was en elite libero at times. The Surrey, BC product finished seventh in the conference in digs with 292 on the season.

"She played a brand-new position this year and had a lot of success. The last time she appeared in Canada West Gabby played the middle blocker position and it's a massive change to left side, but, she's tremendous at reading the game. She really surprised me at how well she read the attackers and the scenarios to put herself in the best position to make a defensive play," noted Rozema.

"She brings a massive amount of leadership to our team, – and wisdom and experience. I think that her presence in the U SPORTS league makes our league, and all of our teams stronger."