March 14, 2022 - Natasha Desjardins has been named the 2021-2022 Ontario Colleges Athletics Association (OCAA) Women's Volleyball Player of the Year. The Welland native and fourth-year right side for the Knights earned the overall Player of the Year status as well as the OCAA West Division Player of the Year as voted on amongst OCAA Coaches. It was a unanimous decision for the selection committee when it came time to vote on the OCAA Player of the Year award.
Desjardins was also named the OCAA West Division Scoring Champion, and First Team All-Star Recognition.
The 5'9 Jean Vanier (now Saint-Jean-de-Brebeuf) alum started in all nine matches this season, amassing a total of 33 sets played.
Desjardins led the league in Kills (118) and Kills-per-set (3.25) while establishing a career milestone of surpassing 500 career Kills and 498 digs in her four years spent with the blue and white. Desjardins also finished tied for second in the OCAA in points-per-set with 4.2, and total points at 139.
The aspiring teacher also competed for the Knights as a dual sport athlete for 2021-2022, suiting up for the women's soccer program and helping them to a 6-0 record this season.
In her four years as a Knight, Desjardins has a long list of accolades to her name- athletic and academic.
- Two Time –(2020 and 2022) OCAA Women's Volleyball West Division First-Team All-Stars
- Two time Knights team MVP 2020 - 2022
- Two Time (2020-2022) CCAA Academic All-Canadian
- Four Time (2018-2022) CCAA Scholar Athlete – 2022 To be Announced
- Four Time (2018 – 2022) OCAA All-Academic Award
- 2019 – 2020 OCAA first Team All-Star
- 2020 Knights Female Athlete of the Year
- 2020 Knights Athlete of Distinction
- 2018-2019 Knights Team Leadership Award
- 2017-2018 Knights Team Top Scholastic Award
Head coach Tommy Sloan calls his captain's leadership style "second to none."
"She is our leader on the court, in the dressing room and in the classroom," says Sloan. "She epitomizes what it means to be a student-athlete and her commitment to excellence is unmatched. She sets the standards for our team culture and has earned the respect of all her peers."
Desjardins decision to join the women's soccer program came when COVID was still a very real threat to the 2021-2022 season and after missing the 2020-2021 season completely, Desjardins wanted to compete and stay in shape. The starting centre back helped the Knights go to a 6-0 season before being eliminated in the quarterfinal round by Humber.
Sloan is convinced that Desjardins hard work on the pitch, translated to a strong year on the court in more ways than one.
"Despite being a two-sport athlete, and the heavy work load that came with it, she continued to perform at the highest level, and was the most dangerous offensive threat in the league all season. She did all the work to stay healthy all through the missed season, all through the fall and I feel like her putting in that extra work when it came time for our season to start just made her unstoppable."
Desjardins and the Knights finished with a 5-4 record, and qualified for the 2022 OCAA quarterfinal match on March 12th, where they fell to the East Division Champion Durham Lords 0-3.
This is the Knights second OCAA Player of the Year award handed out for 2021-2022, when Sidney Sica earned the OCAA Women's Soccer Player of the Year award back in October.
