While the St. Thomas University Tommies men’s volleyball team may have fallen short of their preseason goal of medaling at Nationals, there was plenty of growth for the young Tommies during the 2018-19 season.
The Tommies bettered their regular season record from 2017-18, going from 8-7 to 12-3 this year. They were led by 2nd year players Christian Christie (Langley, BC) and Garret Dickson (Miramichi, NB) who were both named ACAA All-Stars. 1st year setter, Henry Doucet (Truro, NS) was also named ACAA Rookie of the Year, while head coach Henri Mallet was named ACAA Coach of the Year.
“I think we reached one of our main goals, to continue to grow as a team this season,” said Mallet. “With the results we were able to have during the regular season, it’s easy to forget that we often had four second year athletes on the floor and that our offence was led by a rookie setter.”
The Tommies faced the Holland College Hurricanes in the ACAA final for the second year in a row. Unfortunately, they couldn’t repeat last year’s outcome, running into a determined Hurricanes team.
With every player eligible to return for the 2019-20 season, the Tommies will be poised for success.
“We’ll use the experience gained this year to continue to build a solid foundation for years to come, as our ultimate goal is to win a CCAA Championship,” said Mallet. “All 13 guys worked extremely hard all year, and the individual improvement is showing. With 10 players potentially coming back and another solid recruiting class, we are excited for the 2020 season as we’ll want to return to the top of our conference. We are already working towards our 2019-2020 season.”
With the offseason beginning for the Tommies, they are guaranteed their chance to play for a medal at Nationals, as they will host the 2020 CCAA Men’s Volleyball Nationals. The event will run March 11-14th at the Grant-Harvey Centre.