The St. Thomas Tommies have two British Columbia-born players on the men’s volleyball team this season.

Henri Mallet would like to fly them home at the end of the season and bring their teammates too.

The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championship tournament is being hosted by Camosun College of Victoria from March 7–10. Mallet begins his seventh season at the helm of the Tommies on Saturday when they open the men’s volleyball season with a match in Moncton against the fledgling Crandall Chargers. He thinks his Tommies can be there as the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association representative.

“It’s weird, because we still have a very young team,” said Mallet as he surveyed the list of 13 players who will wear green and gold this season, a crew which includes four rookies and five sophomores.

“Last year, we had four rookies on the floor at some points... but that core group of guys is very, very talented. They still need a bit of mileage. But their volleyball IQ is as good as any group that I’ve had.”

That’s saying a mouthful, because Mallet’s teams have won three ACAA titles in five years of play. The 2020–21 season was lost to COVID.

Last year was a relatively down season for the Tommies. They finished third in the four-team conference with an 8-7 record and lost in the semifinals. But all-star setter Raphael Fiset, outside hitter Brenton Romanchuk, and middle players Jacob Tratch and Mason Brewster gained valuable experience. Mallet has already seen significant improvement over the two months the team has been practicing together.

Add a couple of significant off-season recruits: setter Tim Juvonen, a former Manitoba Collegiate Athletic Conference all-star and team captain at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, and libero Oscar Luk of Vancouver, who will provide depth for third-year veteran Alex Frederickson; and second-year outside hitter Thomas Blizzard, who played at UNBSJ last year. Mallet believes he has 13 players who can step on the floor and compete for a title.

“Our expectation would be to make it to nationals,” he said. “Once you get there, anything can happen.”

The Tommies have assembled players from six provinces, including Luk from Vancouver and third-year middle Kevin Douglas of Surrey, B.C. Two are from Saskatchewan; three from Alberta; two from Manitoba; one from Ontario; and three from New Brunswick, including team co-captain Austin Hamilton of Miramichi, who made the team as a walk on three years ago and has grown into a player Mallet believes will be one of the top outside hitters in the league this season. 

“We may be the deepest team in the league,” he said.

Mallet stops short of saying his Tommies are the team to beat. He respects reigning conference champion Universite Sainte-Anne Dragons, whom he expects will be “very good” despite the loss of ACAA player of the year Alec Cottreau; he knows that Holland College “always finds a way to be competitive"; and UNBSJ, which will host the Atlantic championship tournament, will be better than their 1-14 record of a year ago. Crandall is a new program and will experience growing pains, but coach Garrett West “did a good job of recruiting,” Mallet said.

The Chargers are the guests for the Tommies' home opener on Sunday, Nov. 12 at the LB Gym.

“I wouldn’t say we’re favorites, but we’ll be tough to play against,” he said.

“Guys are there for each other and pushing each other in practices... everybody wants the best for the team.

Everybody wants to get to B.C. in March, and whatever they have to do to get there, they’re willing to do so.”