Left side Raya Surinx was named a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian, and setter Julia Martens was named to the All-Rookie team at last night's national awards banquet in Langley, BC.

Surinx earned First Team honours for a third year in a row, becoming the first Bisons women's volleyball player to accomplish the feat in 24 years. The Winnipeg native once again led the nation in kills per set, at 4.50, while her 315 total kills were first in Canada West and second in U SPORTS. Surinx also led Canada West and was second in the country in aces, with 46.

The back-to-back U SPORTS Player of the Year concluded her regular season career as the most accomplished Bison in the rally scoring era of the program. Her 173 career regular season aces (second all-time in Canada West), 1,539.5 total points (second all-time in Canada West) and 1,296 career regular season kills (third all-time in Canada West) are all program records. 

Surinx added to her incredible legacy in the playoffs, when she set the single-game conference record for points in a game, with 38.5 on February 27 against Thompson Rivers. That total broke a 27-year Canada West record.

"For the third consecutive season, Raya led Canada West in total kills and kills per set, while also leading the nation in kills per set, doing so with a first-year setter. She also led Canada West in aces per set as well, topping three categories for the 2025-26 season," said Bisons head coach Ken Bentley.

"Raya accomplishes these stats by continuing to humbly put her head down and do the work to try and get better every day. She has been an absolute treat to coach these past four years and she serves as an inspiration in our community for our young volleyball players."

Surinx has been named Canada West Rookie of the Year, after a stellar season that saw her start 17 matches, while playing in 53 total sets. She is the second Bison to receive the award in the last three seasons, after Raya Surinx in 2023, and the ninth Bison overall in program history.
 
Martens earns All-Rookie status after being named Canada West Rookie of the Year a few weeks prior. She was the nation's top rookie in assists per set, at 9.34, a total that was also third in all of U SPORTS. A presence on the attack as well, her tricky left-hand attack resulted in 37 kills overall. Defensively, Martens finished fourth on the Bisons with 139 digs, while her 31 total blocks were fifth on the team.
 
Martens made her first career U SPORTS start against Calgary on October 30, a 3-1 win. She tallied 41 assists in the game, which tied for her regular season career-high, matched on January 9, a 3-1 win over Mount Royal. Overall, she recorded over 40 assists in three different matches, while her eight total points in a 3-1 win over Saskatchewan on January 17 were a personal best (37 assists, four kills, ten digs, eight assisted blocks).
 
In her playoff debut against Thompson Rivers in the quarterfinals, Martens added to her stellar season, posting an overall career high of 45 assists in game one of the conference quarterfinals against the Wolfpack.

"Julia's recognition emanates from doing the work to being ready should her play be required, and when it was, she was outstanding," said Bisons head coach Ken Bentley.
 
"Julia met the moment in the best possible way and went on to have a fantastic rookie campaign by finishing third in assists in Canada West while helping the Bisons finish with a 14-6 record this season. Julia has a very high volleyball IQ and remains calm and cool no matter the circumstance and has handled the pressure of starting for the defending national champions with a steady demeanour. I'm very proud of Julia for the way she has handled herself this season-it has been a heavy lift and she did a great job for us."