Following their second straight Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association championship, the St. Thomas University Tommies men’s volleyball team has earned the right to represent the ACAA during the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association this weekend in Quebec City, QC.
Joining the Tommies there will be the Redeemer Royals, Camosun Chargers, Geants de Saint-Jean, Red Deer Kings, Titans de Limoilou, Canadian Mennonite University Blazers, and the Humber Hawks.
The last time the Tommies set foot on the court for the CCAA Men’s Volleyball Championships was when they hosted in 2020, with no fans allowed in attendance due to the pandemic. Championship experience is invaluable, regardless of fans in attendance, and this will be the second trip to Nationals for eight of the players, with it being the third trip for veterans Christian Christie (Langley, BC) and Garret Dickson (Miramichi, NB).
“Having the experience is definitely beneficial, but what is more important is how our guys locked in all season,” said ACAA Coach of the Year, Henri Mallet. “We have a group that is extremely hard working and has been worked towards this goal since August. The experience will be a big help, but the way the guys worked this year is what is most important.”
Christie, in his fourth year with the Tommies, knows what his team has to do to medal this year, and attributes the work Mallet has done to get this Tommies team together.
“For us to medal this year we will have to beat the teams we face,” said Christie with a smile. “Henri has done an incredible job assembling our team and getting the right personnel in the right positions that will allow us to be successful. As long as we play our game and are work hard, we will put ourselves in a position to succeed.”
The Tommies will match up with the RSEQ champions, the Geants de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, who defeated both the host and CCAA #9, Titans de Limoilou in the semifinals and then the CCAA #3 Volontaires de Sherbrooke in the finals, with both matches going five sets. The Geants boast four league All-Stars, with Hugo Ouelett and Francis Del Veccio being named to the 1st Team, and Pierre Olivier Thibault and Jonathan Addy being named 2nd Team All-Stars, while also having the RSEQ Coach of the Year in Mahdi Gara.
“It’s going to be a battle,” said Mallet about his team’s first matchup. “Saint-Jean had to beat two really good teams in the RSEQ Championships to make it to nationals. With those wins, they demonstrated that they can play with anybody in the country. They are a really good blocking team, but we think we have the pieces on offence to match them. They are a well coached team, so we have to be ready for whatever they throw at us.”
“We have the versatility to move people around and adjust our offence and defence on the fly to maximize our strengths to try and take advantage of different matchups,” added Christie. “At the end of the day we are going to play our game and be physical at the net while being a tough defensive team to score against.”
The streams for the Championships can be found at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ccaasportsacsc/, with STU’s first match is scheduled for 4:00pm on Friday, March 25th.