2025 AUS women's rugby major award winners and all-stars announced
Acadia’s Brielynn Murrant named conference’s most valuable player
(HALIFAX, N.S.) Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2025 women's rugby major award winners and all-stars as selected by the conference's four head coaches following the regular season.
Brielynn Murrant, a third-year hooker from the Acadia Axewomen, has been named the AUS most valuable player, while STFX second row/No. 8 Brown'nesha Willis-Glasgow has earned the AUS rookie of the year award.
This year's recipient of the AUS student-athlete community service award is Katie Murphy, a fourth-year scrum half with the STFX X-Women.
And in his 27th season at the helm of the STFX X-Women rugby program, coach Mike Cavanagh has been named the AUS coach of the year for the 14th time in his career and the second consecutive season.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Brielynn Murrant, Acadia Axewomen
Atlantic University Sport women's rugby's most valuable player for 2025 is Acadia Axewomen hooker Brielynn Murrant.
In addition to being named MVP, she was also named to the 2025 AUS all-star team for the first time in her career.
A third-year community development student from Port Caledonia, N.S., Murrant led the Axewomen to a 4-2-0 regular season record and a second-place finish in the conference standings.
With seven tries in five games played through the regular season, she finished tied for first in team scoring with 35 points. She then went on to score two pivotal tries in Acadia's 24-19 victory over the UPEI Panthers last week in the AUS playoff semifinal.
As the AUS MVP, Murrant becomes this year's Atlantic conference nominee for the U SPORTS most valuable player award. The only AUS player to win the national award was Ghislaine Landry from STFX, who earned the accolade in both 2007 and 2008.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Brown'nesha Willis-Glasgow, STFX X-Women
Brown'nesha Willis-Glasgow of the U SPORTS no. 6-ranked STFX X-Women, is the 2025 AUS women's rugby rookie of the year.
A first-year arts student from North Preston, N.S., she played in all six games for the X-Women and started in two.
STFX finished the season undefeated with a 5-0-1 record. Willis-Glasgow scored three tries on the season for 15 points.
With her AUS rookie of the year win, Willis-Glasgow becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the U SPORTS rookie of the year award. The most recent STFX player to earn the national honour was teammate Akwaima Akpan who was named U SPORTS rookie of the year in 2023.
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Katie Murphy, STFX X-Women
The 2025 student-athlete community service award recipient is Katie Murphy of the STFX X-Women.
The fourth-year scrum half/wing is a human kinetics student from Millvale, P.E.I. She scored a league-leading 14 conversions this season for the X-Women, amassing 28 points.
Murphy is heavily involved in the community, both on and off campus.
She helped found the X Gives Blood Society at STFX, which promotes Canadian Blood Services and raised awareness for the critical need for blood, stem cells, and organ donors.
She also lent her time to the Pucks for Purpose charity hockey game, which raises funds for the Canadian Cancer Society.
Murphy is also a part of the Best Buddies program which partners with l'Arche Antigonish, volunteering with individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Other organizations and causes she has volunteered her time with include motionball For Special Olympics, the Coastal K9 Rescue Society, the Antigonish Bulldogs U15AA hockey team (as a volunteer trainer), and the RK MacDonald Nursing Home in Antigonish.
Murphy is the fourth STFX player to win this award since its inception in 2009—following in the footsteps of Katherine Culligan in 2023, Vanessa Duffley in 2013 and Jamee George in 2010.
She now becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the U SPORTS Student-Athlete Community Service Award. The last AUS student-athlete to take home the national honour was Acadia's Kelsey Brumm in 2016.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Mike Cavanagh, STFX
For the second consecutive season, STFX X-Women head coach Mike Cavanagh has been selected by his peers as the AUS women's rugby coach of the year.
This season marks Coach Cavanagh's 27th at the helm of the program, and the 14th time in his career he has been selected as the conference's top coach.
Cavanagh's U SPORTS no. 6-ranked X-Women squad finished the regular season undefeated and in first place with a 5-0-1 record, earning a bye and hosting rights to the 2025 Bell AUS Women's Rugby Championship final.
STFX allowed just 77 points against all season—an average of just 12.8 points per game.
As conference finalists, they've earned a berth in the 2025 CGIS U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship presented by Rec Room, held Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver
Cavanagh now becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the Jim Atkinson Award for the U SPORTS coach of the year. He has earned the honour twice before—in 2012 and 2001.
2025 AUS WOMEN'S RUGBY ALL-STARS
The following players have been named to the 2025 Atlantic University Sport women's rugby all-star team:
Front row/Prop: Lauren Deal, Acadia (5th year—Valley, N.S.)
Front row/Prop: Jessie Penney, STFX (3rd year—Clarke's Beach, N.L.)
Front row/Hooker: Kendra McDonell, STFX (4th year—Ottawa, Ont.)
Second row/Lock: Jenna Gallant, Acadia (3rd year—Valley, N.S.)
Second row/Lock: Akwaima Akpan, STFX (3rd year—Halifax, N.S.)
Back row/Flanker: Brielynn Murrant, Acadia (3rd year—Port Caledonia, N.S.)
Back row/Flanker: Shona Galloway, STFX (3rd year—Upper Tantallon, N.S.)
Back row/#8: Emma MacLean, UPEI (5th year—Cole Harbour, N.S.)
Scrum Half: Katherine Fairbrother, Saint Mary's (5th year—Saint John, N.B.)
Fly Half/Stand Off: Sarah Gunn, Acadia (3rd year—Scotsburn, N.S.)
Centre: Abbie Chisholm, Acadia (2nd year—Lunenburg, N.S.)
Centre: Rowan Gallagher, UPEI (2nd year—Halifax, N.S.)
Winger: Juliette Matsukubo, Acadia (5th year—Ottawa, Ont.)
Winger: Elliana Porter, Saint Mary's (3rd year—Bridgewater, N.S.)
Fullback: Sarah Williston, Acadia (3rd year—Toronto, Ont.)
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The 2025 AUS Rugby Championship final will take place Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. AT, in Antigonish, N.S., when the STFX X-Women host the Acadia Axewomen to compete for the Birks Memorial Trophy. The championship final will be webcast live at www.AUStv.ca.
The 2025 AUS women's rugby final standings are available here.
The 2025 AUS women's rugby final statistics are available here.
The Axewomen and the X-Women will both compete in the 2025 CGIS U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship presented by Rec Room, held Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver. For more information on the national championship, click here.