As announced by the OUA on Wednesday (Mar. 4) afternoon, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball setter Marina Gustke has been selected as Rookie of the Year, while three more Blues in Olivia Zhu, Julia Liu, and Delaney Watson have all been named OUA all-stars.

Stepping into a starting position in her debut season with the Varsity Blues, Gustke immediately showcased herself as a fundamental piece to the U of T attack. The first-year Psychology major from Montreal would appear in all 20 regular season matches, eventually finishing third in the province in total assists tallying 576 across 69 sets played. She tallied a season-high 40 assists in a home court victory over TMU in mid-January, while tallying 30 or more assists in 10 matches across the 2025-26 campaign. Her 8.35 assists per set ranked sixth best in the OUA. In addition to her ability to orchestrate the Blues offence, she also tallied 135 total digs and 10 total blocks, defensively. Gustke becomes the 11th Blue to receive Rookie of the Year honours since 1992, and continues a streak of 10 straight seasons now with a U of T women's volleyball player being recognized as an OUA all-rookie, the three most recent of which were named all-stars this season.

Named an OUA all-star for the second time in her career, Olivia Zhu was named to the OUA second team. The veteran outside hitter delivered consistency both as an offensive weapon and defensive stopper. Zhu finished Top 10 in the OUA in kills and points categories, while also adding 165 digs and 16 total blocks, defensively. Appearing in all 20 regular season matches, this season she moved into sixth place in the U of T record books with 955 career points and fifth overall with 813 career kills, accounting for only regular season statistics.

Joining her on the second team and receiving OUA all-star honours for the first time, Julia Liu shined as an offensive force for the Blues. Also appearing in all 20 matches, Liu ranked fourth in the OUA with 3.61 kills per set and fifth with 4.2 points per set. With a powerful swing on the outside, Liu improved in every statistical category from her already impressive rookie campaign from a season ago. Highlighting her 2025-26, she recorded a season-high 22 kills and 24 points in an upset of the nationally ranked Brock Badgers in late-January.

Receiving OUA all-star honours for a third time across three seasons, Delaney Watson rounded out the Blues recognized with a third team nod. The defensive specialist was again found herself ranked among the very best libero's from across the province, finishing fourth in total digs (256) and fifth in digs per set (3.61). Stepping up her performance to another level during the Blues late season surge for the playoffs she tallied double-digit digs in six of the last seven regular season matches for U of T, including a season's best 25 digs in the same upset win over Brock in late-January. And at the end of just her third season in the Blue and White she has surpassed 850 career digs.

The full list of OUA major award winners and all-stars is included below:

Player of the Year: Oceane Raymond-Leduc, Nipissing
Rookie of the Year: Marina Gustke, Toronto
Champion of EDI Award: Maddy Lutes, McMaster
Therese Quigley Award: Abby Delamere, McMaster
Coach of the Year: Natasha Spalding, Guelph

First Team All-Stars
Oceane Raymond-Leduc, Nipissing
Aliah Adams, Windsor
Emma Buntic, Western
Claire Carter, Queen's
Olivia Julien, McMaster
Audrey Odigie, Ottawa
Mackenna Knox, Brock

Second Team All-Stars
Julia Liu, Toronto
Avery Isaacs, Waterloo
Emily Foest, Brock
Ava Ebert, Western
Lauren MacPhail, Queen's
Danika Scharff, Windsor
Olivia Zhu, Toronto

Third Team All-Stars
Madeline Pelosi, Western
Delaney Watson, Toronto
Maia Dan, Guelph
Abby Delamere, McMaster
Abigail McAlpine, Queen's
Emma Baruchelli, Brock
Samantha Loshusan, Waterloo

All-Rookies
Toni Wilson, Western
Cassie Robinson, Nipissing
Marina Gustke, Toronto
Yulia Glazko, York
Eva Lin, McMaster
Sadie Bird, TMU
Ava Coonfer, Western