Jana Klassen: January's Lionheart Sports Female Athlete of the Month
Congratulations to Jana Klassen of Women's Volleyball on being selected the CMU Lionheart Sports Female Athlete of the Month for January. The fifth-year outside hitter led her team to a miraculous four weeks that has seen CMU move from fourth to second in the MCAC standings, riding a wave of success that has the Blazers undefeated in 6 matches this month.
"All season long we have relied on Jana and her presence on defense and serve-receive," said first-year CMU head coach Jayme Menzies. "This month in back-to-back matches against our highest seeded rivals, her composure, creativity and intelligence allowed her to score under pressure to secure important wins."
Those back-to-back wins came against the previously undefeated USB Rouges. The Blazers shocked the MCAC's top team with a straight-sets win on January 17th and came home for a memorable five-set win that saw CMU come back from 0-2 to steal another victory. Klassen's impact was felt in both the front row and the back row for her team in the series, leading her team with 8 digs in their first win over USB and then pounding a 21-kill effort in the return match.
Klassen followed that performance with a team-high 20-kill, 4-dig afternoon in a 3-0 win over the Red River Rebels on January 26th and closed out the month with a sensational 13-dig effort last Friday night to pace the Blazers to a win in Brandon over the ACC Cougars.
With a record that has drastically improved from 3-6 to 9-6 over the span of 31 days, Klassen and the Blazers are firing on all cylinders entering the final month of the regular season. CMU's next action is Friday night in Otterburne against the Providence Pilots before a return trip to Brandon to meet the ACC on Sunday afternoon.
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