Peake, Alas win Cougars athlete of year awards

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This article was published 11/04/2025 (397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kylee Peake was named one of the top college volleyball players in the country this year.

That made it easy for Assiniboine College to announce the Binscarth product as the Cougars female athlete of the year on Friday evening during the college’s student achievement celebration, along with male athlete of the year Gerardo Alas.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Peake said. “I feel very recognized and obviously I can’t do it without my team, but honestly, it’s awesome.”

Peake put up 2.91 kills per set in her second Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference women’s volleyball season, good for second in the league.

Her 201 kills and 178 digs were both third in the MCAC while she helped the Cougars to an 8-10 record, nearly claiming home-court advantage for the league semifinal.

Assiniboine fell to Canadian Mennonite University after beating the Blazers a couple of times during the regular season.

After the Providence Pilots claimed the league title and the MCAC’s spot at nationals, Peake found out she was going as well. For the first time in AC history, a Cougars’ athlete was named a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association all-Canadian.

For her, the key to growth and success was more on the mental side.

“My presence on the court is always calm,” she said. “I struggled with keeping myself level in high school so being able to keep my composure and stay calm (helped) my team move forward.”

Peake plans to return for one more year with the program, hopefully taking the rest of her team to nationals down the road in Niverville. The Pilots are hosting, so two MCAC schools will take part.

“Coming back for a second year and third year, it’s going to get even better,” Peake said. “The chemistry is going to get stronger and I’m so excited for what next year holds and how well we can do.”

ALAS PUSHED COUGARS TO FIRST LEAGUE FINAL

When Alas joined the Cougars men’s soccer and futsal program three years ago, the playoffs felt like a pipe dream.

But with the star goalkeeper and an increasingly talented group under coach Chris McLachlan, Assiniboine became a force.

While goalkeepers are more often in the spotlight when things go wrong, on Friday, he was in it for every little thing he’s done right.

“It means a lot. It’s been a lot of time with the team,” Alas said. “Thanks to the teammates and coaches who played alongside and supported me through highs and lows. It really does mean a lot.”

Alas kept his team in enough games to pull out the necessary victories and ties to clinch a playoff spot on the last day of the futsal season, with a signature 2-1 victory over their crosstown rival Brandon University Bobcats.

The Cougars drew the No. 3 seed and a perfect matchup with the Blazers, who were without all-conference veteran Matheus Moreno while he served the last game of a four-match suspension.

While AC also lost one of its biggest stars in 2024 futsal player of the year Theo Manias at the Christmas break, the team’s depth and Alas’s talent were on full display.

He made enough saves to hold off a comeback attempt and secure a 7-6 victory, reaching AC’s first-ever futsal final.

The Cougars put up a fight, pushing the defending champion St. Boniface Les Rouges to the brink. Les Rouges hadn’t lost a soccer or futsal game all year but the Cougars extended the game into extra time before falling 4-3.

He’s not sure if he’ll return for a fourth season, but if the athlete of the year is done, he’s happy with the growth he and his teammates made over the past three years.

“For sure, this is the most special year,” Alas said. “We’ve never been so close to achieving a trophy, at least in my time. To be one goal away, or two, from having that win, it definitely is very special.”

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