2009-10 OUA major awards and all-stars announced

HAMILTON, Ont. - Ontario University Athletics (OUA) is pleased to announce its major award winners and all-stars for men's volleyball.

Eric Simon (London, Ont.) of the Western Mustangs is the player of the year. The fifth-year left side led all OUA student-athletes with 32 service aces, an average of 0.63 per set - a whopping 0.24 more than his closest pursuer. Simon was among the league leaders in several other categories, including 166 kills (3.25 per set), 23 blocks (0.45), 103 digs (2.02) and 217.5 points (4.26). He was a leader on a Mustangs team that finished third in the OUA standings with a 15-5 record, challenging for top spot all season long. Simon is also a first-team all-star.

Western teammate Phil James (Ottawa) is the OUA rookie of the year. Playing middle, James earned 117 kills (1.80 per set), 23 service aces (0.35), 31 blocks (0.48), 33 digs (0.51) and 179 points (2.75). James also headlines the OUA all-rookie team.

Gabriel deGroot (Langley, B.C.) of the Guelph Gryphons is the 2010 libero of the year. The fifth-year player was third in OUA in total digs with 173 and was second in digs per set averaging 2.58. Guelph lost 28 sets all year, good for fourth-best in the league. This is the second straight season deGroot was named libero of the year. He is also a second-team all-star.

Fifth-year middle Aaron Dam (Grimsby, Ont.) of the Waterloo Warriors is the Dale Iwanocko Award winner, given for academics, athletics and community service. The four-time academic all-Canadian is currently working on his master's degree in kinesiology. Dam currently works as a teaching assistant and volunteers as a peer mentor/tutor. He volunteers once a week at Hearty Hearts, a cardiac rehabilitation centre. Dam is also a member of a church community group known as Serve. With this group he has recently traveled to several impoverished areas to rebuild schools and homes. Dam was second in all of OUA with 82 blocks and is also a second-team all-star.

Huub Kemmere of the Windsor Lancers is the OUA coach of the year. Kemmere led the Lancers to a 12-8 record, good for fourth place in the standings and a playoff berth. This is a five-game improvement over Windsor's 7-13 record in 2008-09. Kemmere has spent the past 11 seasons as a member of the Lancers coaching staff, first as an assistant and then head coach. He is a multiple winner of the OUA coach of the year award, the last one coming in 2004.

Joining Simon as first-team all-stars are middle Michael Amoroso (Toronto) and outside Joren Zeeman (Cambridge, Ont.) of the Queen's Gaels, outside Jeremy Groenveld (Welland, Ont.) and middle Tyler Santoni (Kingston, Ont.) of the McMaster Marauders, left side Steven Kung (Toronto) of the Toronto Varsity Blues and middle Josh Edwards (Kingston, Ont.) of the Lancers.

In addition to deGroot and Dam, right side Winston Rosser (Whitby, Ont.) and left side Jonathan Whitton (Edmonton) of the Gryphons, middle Greg Houston (Chatham, Ont.) of the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, setter Ryan Hudson (Winnipeg) of McMaster and left side/right side Mathieu Poulin (Winnipeg) of Western are second-team all-stars for 2010.

The OUA all-rookie team consists of James, opposite Ryan Le (Windsor, Ont.) of the Lancers, setter Marvin Macalino (Aurora, Ont.) of the York Lions, outside Aleks Poldma (Toronto) of the Warriors, middle Harry Shannon (Whitby, Ont.) of the Ryerson Rams, outside Will Sidgwick (Toronto) of Queen's and McMaster outside Kevin Stevens (Winnipeg).

The OUA quarter-finals begin Friday as Queen's hosts Toronto. The first round of the playoffs concludes on Saturday as Guelph visits Windsor and Western entertains Waterloo. Men's volleyball award winners and all-stars will be honoured at the OUA Final Four championship on Friday, March 5 at McMaster.

2010 OUA MEN'S VOLLEYBALL MAJOR AWARD WINNERS

Player of the Year: Eric Simon (Western)
Rookie of the Year: Phil James (Western)
Libero of the Year: Gabriel deGroot (Guelph)
Dale Iwanocko Award Winner: Aaron Dam (Waterloo)
Coach of the Year: Huub Kemmere (Windsor)

FIRST-TEAM ALL-STARS
Michael Amoroso (Toronto) - Queen's
Josh Edwards (Kingston, Ont.) - Windsor
Jeremy Groenveld (Welland, Ont.) - McMaster
Steven Kung (Toronto) - Toronto
Tyler Santoni (Kingston, Ont.) - McMaster
Eric Simon (London, Ont.) - Western
Joren Zeeman (Cambridge, Ont.) - Queen's

SECOND-TEAM ALL-STARS
Aaron Dam (Grimsby, Ont.) - Waterloo
Gabriel deGroot (Langley, B.C.) - Guelph
Greg Houston (Chatham, Ont.) - Laurier   
Ryan Hudson (Winnipeg) - McMaster
Mathieu Poulin (Winnipeg) - Western
Winston Rosser (Whitby, Ont.) - Guelph
Jonathan Whitton (Edmonton) - Guelph

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Phil James (Ottawa) - Western
Ryan Le (Windsor, Ont.) - Windsor
Marvin Macalino (Aurora, Ont.) - York
Aleks Poldma (Toronto) - Waterloo
Harry Shannon (Whitby, Ont.) - Ryerson
Will Sidgwick (Toronto) - Queen's
Kevin Stevens (Winnipeg) - McMaster

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