On Wednesday night the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) honoured Shae Boyes as the 2023-24 ACAC Women's Volleyball Player of the Year. 

Having a historic season, Boyes has helped lead the Vikings in another successful season, finishing second in the ACAC North Division and earning a program-high Canadian Collegiate Athletics Association's (CCAA) national ranking, coming in at fourth in the country in the final weeks of the season.

Aside from the team's success, Boyes has been a consistent force for the Vikings year after year, writing her name in record books to round out her post-secondary career as one of the best female volleyball student-athletes in both program and conference history.

Over the course of the season, the veteran outside hitter amassed 287 kills, 62 aces, 189 digs, and 21 blocks through 19 games played to lead the conference in kills, aces, and points. Her kills and aces total broke the Vikings single-season records.

In her final season, Boyes hit milestone after milestone including 1000 career kills to rank seventh all-time in the ACAC and 200 career kills for the second most all-time in the conference, male or female.

"Shae is the ultimate competitor. She has given our program the gift of compete and the gift of joy every time she steps onto the court and her work ethic is unmatched," says Steve Enright, Vikings Head Coach. "She is always learning and always sharing her craft with her teammates. Her character shines on and off the court and she is the best leader our program has seen and will leave a lasting legacy of commitment and excellence."

With the prestigious ACAC Women's Volleyball Player of the Year honours alluding her until now, the Rimbey, Alberta native has collected her fair share of honours through her career including ACAC Women's Volleyball Rookie of the Year (2019), three-time ACAC All-Conference Team honours (2022, 2023, 2024) and was named a 2023 CCAA National Championship Second Team Tournament All-Star. 

Boyes was honoured in front of her peers, teammates and coaches at the 2024 ACAC Women's Volleyball Championship banquet hosted by the Lethbridge Kodiaks alongside teammate and fellow ACAC All-Conference award honouree Emily Peterson and ACAC Women's Volleyball North Coach of the Year Steve Enright. The Vikings will take on their first opponent on Thursday, February 22 starting at 1 pm at Val Matteotti Gym and on ACACTV.