Julia Tuchscherer and Mateo Brazinha were named the UFV Cascades Athletes of the Year as the University of the Fraser Valley Athletics and Campus recreation department held its annual awards night on Thursday evening.

The Cascades' awards celebrated excellence on display during the 2025-26 season.

Brazinha (men's soccer) and Tuchshcherer (women's basketball) took home the Men's and Women's Athlete of the Year awards after fantastic seasons on the pitch and the court. Brazinha earns his second consecutive Cascades Athlete of the Year award after being named the U SPORTS Men's Soccer Player of the Year this season. Meanwhile, Tuchscherer led Canada West in scoring, while also finishing second in blocks to earn First Team All-Star honours form the conference. 

Other winners included Kyla Kerr (women's soccer) and Matheus De Souza (men's soccer), who took home the rookie of the year awards. Jacqueline Reinhardt was selected as this year's recipient of the Jen Simpson Memorial Leadership Award, while Kinna Fisher (women's volleyball) and Kevin Mailand (men's soccer) earned the Cascades All-Around Student-Athlete Awards for excellence in athletics, academics, and the community.  

Isaac Riggins earned the annual Cascades Crew Award celebrating the work done by student staff members in the department over the past season. Tianna Page-Willox was named the Cascades Student-Therapist of the Year, and Devon Bailey, Manager, Donor Engagement - Community Engagement, was announced as the inaugural recipient of the Cascades Director's Award for her work with Cascades Giving Day.

The full list of awards, and a list of announced team MVP's is below.

FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR 
Julia Tuchscherer

Julia was the focal point for the Cascades this season both on offence and defence. She led the conference in scoring while also finishing second in Canada West for blocks. A first team all-star, conference player of the week in early January, pacific division nominee for defensive player of the year, and program leader and 7th place all-time in U SPORTS blocks, Julia proved to be a dominant force all year long.

MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR 
Mateo Brazinha 

Mateo became the first player in over 20 years to win Canada West men's soccer player of the year in back-to-back seasons, and became just the second athlete in UFV Cascades history to earn U SPORTS Player of the year honours in a team sport. Mateo led the conference in goals, and led the nation in points, while he finished off this season as the program's all-time leader in goals, assists, and points.   

FEMALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 
Kyla Kerr (WSOC)

Quickly becoming a standout in her rookie season, Kyla played in all 14 games for women's soccer, starting all but one of them. She played the full 90 minutes on seven occasions, becoming an anchor in the centre of midfield for a young squad.

MALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 
Matheus De Souza

De Souza was a rock all season long, posting eight shutouts on the year and helping to lead his team to the Canada West Final Four. He also became the first Cascades player to be selected in the Canadian Premier League draft this season.

JEN SIMPSON MEMORIAL LEADERSHIP AWARD
Jacqueline Reinhard

The award honours the memory of Cascades rower Jen Simpson, who died tragically in a car accident in 2008 at the age of 20. Her parents and friends have established this annual award in her name.

In her first season on the rowing team, Reinhard stepped into a demanding role as coxswain. Developing quickly into a leader and valued member of the team. 

Female-All Around Student-Athlete of the Year
Kinna Fisher

Part of one of the strongest setter duos in the conference for women's volleyball, Kinna excelled in the classroom while also serving as the U SPORTS FiSU student ambassador, and of course was also named the Canada West Women's volleyball Community Service award winner.

Male-All Around Student-Athlete of the Year
Kevin Mailand

A Canada West second team all-star, and conference player of the week in early September, Kevin had a strong season on the pitch for UFV men's soccer this season, while also showing excellence in his studies and spending time working and participating with campus recreation.
 
Cascades Crew Award
Isaac Riggins

Isaac has gone above and beyond for the Cascades all season long, whether it was his work on gamedays, working with campus recreation, or even stepping in to fill in for an injured linesperson during a regular season volleyball game.
 
Student Therapist of the Year
Tianna Page-Willox

Tianna has been a great addition to the student trainer program over the last 2 seasons and has put in countless hours with WVB. She has stepped up to fill the role when her peers had to step away for personal reasons and handled it with professionalism. Tianna brings energy and a caring attitude to both practices and games to make sure that athletes can perform at their best.
 
Director's Award
Devon Bailey

Devon Bailey, Manager, Donor Engagement - Community Engagement at UFV, was announced as the inaugural recipient of the Cascades Director's Award for her work with Cascades Giving Day. She has been instrumental in advancing the Cascades Giving Day initiative, helping the department raise over $134,000 for student-athletes this season.

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TEAM MVPs
Cascades team MVPs for 2025-26 were also announced as part of awards night.
 
Men's basketball:
 Dario Lopez

Women's basketball:
Julia Tuchscherer

Men's soccer:
Mateo Brazinha

Women's soccer:
Kenzie Fitzgerald

Men's volleyball: 
Roan McCarthy

Women's volleyball:
Cailin Bitter

Men's golf: 
Hayden Lazeo

Women's golf: 
Coral Hamade

Rowing: 
Danae Vanderveen