Volleyball BC has selected Emily Oxland and Byron Keturakis as this year’s recipients of the annual Ray Lepp Scholarship. The $2,000 scholarships are awarded each year to a post-secondary male and female athlete who meet the scholarship criteria and show promise of competing for Canada at the national team level.
Selected from a group of very strong applicants, these athletes have shown a tremendous amount of dedication and commitment to the sport of volleyball and have received numerous accolades for their accomplishments.
This year’s female recipient, Emily Oxland, is a 5th year starting Setter for the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat who recently captured a bronze medal at the 2016 CIS Championships. Growing up playing in the North Vancouver system, Oxland, who has been recognized as a Canada West second team all-star and CIS all-rookie team, has also previously struck gold playing with Team BC at the 2011 National Team Challenge Cup (NTCC) where she also received tournament all-star mentions. Outside of being a student-athlete, Oxland continues to give her time back to the sport through coaching. Oxland was also named The Province’s 2011-12 Girls Player of the Year selected by BC’s University volleyball coaches. (photo by phoenix news)
Male recipient is Byron Keturakis hailing from the University of British Columbia – Vancouver Campus. The 3rd year starting setter for the UBC Thunderbirds had an eventful year in 2015 representing Canada at the FISU games in Korea, placing 8th at U21 Worlds, and capturing bronze at the 2015 Pan American Cup in Gatineau, Quebec. Coming out of Earl Marriott secondary in the Fraser Valley, Keturakis competed on Team BC throughout his high school career where he won gold at 17U, and bronze at 18U. (video by www.facebook.com/ubcmvb)
These scholarships are made possible by their namesake, Ray Lepp, who was a founding member of Volleyball BC (formerly BC Volleyball Association) in 1965. He served as both president and vice president of the association over the years and was a board member until 1978. Ray coached the UBC Men’s Volleyball Team for a total of 10 years and at one time, six players on the Canadian National Team had been coached by Ray at UBC.
Ray’s strong dedication to the sport and the development of strong national team athletes continues to be realized year after year with this scholarship. Volleyball BC is proud to manage these scholarships in his honour and wishes these young athletes all the best in their promising career. Click to see the past Ray Lepp recipients.
