The 2010-11 CCAA Men’s Volleyball National Championship kicked off with the CCAA All-Canadian Awards Banquet tonight at the Hotel Le Président, in Sherbrooke, Que. Two members of the Briercrest men’s volleyball team were honoured by the CCAA. Nigel Mullan was chosen as the 2010-11 CCAA Coach of the Year. Captain Scott Lesher was named to the CCAA All-Canadian team.

CCAA Coach of the Year
Mullan was the ACAC nominee for the CCAA Coach of the Year award, having been honoured as the ACAC Coach of the Year for his work in guiding his team to a 17-3 record on the regular season. After capturing the ACAC Championship at the end of February, Mullan had a strong chance of being honoured at the CCAA level. Mullan was chosen from among five other nominees from the respective provincial conferences in the CCAA.

The following was said about Mullan when they announced his award at the All-Canadian Banquet:

“Nigel takes a huge role in mentoring his players to develop them into men of character. His goal is to develop champions on the court and champions off the court. He is concerned with their development in becoming the best athletes they can be, but just as importantly, he is helping them to grow into leaders of character who will know how to make good decisions and have a positive influence when they leave Briercrest. He is also focused on helping his players to develop in their faith and relationship with God, which is a big part of what Briercrest is about.”

Mullan responded with thanking the CCAA, Briercrest and, most of all, his players. “I want to thank my guys for all of their hard work – you are the ones who make me look good,” he said. “Thanks for committing to our program at Briercrest and for committing to growing as athletes and in your walk with the King.”

Mullan was very deserving of the award for the work he has done in developing the men’s volleyball program this season and over the last seven years. He has guided the team to three ACAC medals in the last four seasons – two silver and this year’s gold. This is also his second trip to the CCAA National Championships in four seasons. Mullan received a plaque and will also receive a CCAA Coach of the Year ring from Jostens Canada, one of the CCAA sponsors.

Scott Lesher – CCAA All-Canadian
Lesher was named to the CCAA All-Canadian team tonight, along with nine other volleyball players from across the country. He, along with Red Deer’s Taylor Hunt were the two representatives on the team from the ACAC. Lesher was named to the First Team All-Conference ACAC team at the end of February and as a result was nominated for a spot on the CCAA team.

Lesher was very deserving of the honour. This year he finished 3rd overall in the ACAC for kills per game at 3.5. He is also 5th overall in digs per game at 2.3. Had 0.4 blocks per game and 0.2  serving aces per game (17th overall).  He was also named the CCAA Volleyball Player of the Month in October. Lesher topped it off with helping his team win the ACAC Championship a couple of weeks ago. Lesher received a plaque from the CCAA at their banquet.
 

The Tournament
The tournament gets underway tomorrow, with the first match at 12:00 PM Quebec time.

Briercrest plays their first match at 8:00 PM Quebec time tomorrow versus the Cegep de Limoilu Titans. The match will be broadcast live online at Go TV (http://diffusion.tvgo.ca/volleyball-ca/) – note the change that the games are not on SportsCanada TV as originally planned. You can also follow the results at the official championship website: http://www.ccaamensvolleyball2011.ca/ .