HALIFAX, NS - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2009-10 men's volleyball major award winners as selected by the Atlantic conference head coaches.

For the second year in a row, Dalhousie's Sander Ratsep has been named the Atlantic University Sport men's volleyball Most Valuable Player. Ratsep, a fourth year 6'4" outside hitter from London, ON, is a two-time conference all-star who led the AUS in scoring (4.62 points per game) and kills (3.84 per game) this season.

Sander also finished third in the conference in aces (0.40 per game) and third in hitting percentage (0.321), and ranked 8th in blocks (0.62 per game) and 9th digs (1.67 per game). Ratsep, named a CIS first team all-Canadian last year, was selected to represent Canada in men's volleyball at the 25th Summer Universiade this past summer in Belgrade, Serbia.

This is the sixth consecutive year a Dalhousie player has been named MVP of the conference. No Atlantic conference player has ever been named CIS Player of the Year.

Nathan Tilley (St. John's, NL) of the Memorial Sea-Hawks is this year's AUS Rookie of the Year. Tilley, a 6'7" middle blocker, had a solid freshman season with the Sea-Hawks, appearing in all 57 of Memorial's games played this season.

Tilley led the Sea-Hawks in hitting percentage this season (0.240) and ranked sixth in the AUS in that category. He also finished 13th in scoring (1.75 points per game) and 13th in blocks (0.44 per game).

The only Atlantic University Sport player to ever be named CIS Rookie of the Year was Dalhousie's Terry Martin in 1994-95.

Dalhousie's Travis MacLean has been selected as the 2009-10 AUS Libero of the Year. MacLean, a third year player from Ottawa, ON, led the Atlantic conference in digs this season with an average of 3.10 per game.

MacLean joins the long list of Tigers to win this award since its inception in 1999-00, including former league MVP Jeff Weiler who won the award each of his five years in the league. Weiler is also the only Atlantic University Sport Player to have been named the CIS Libero of the Year, taking home the nation's top prize four years in a row, from 2003-04 to 2006-07.

Dan Ota, head coach of the CIS No. 2 ranked Dalhousie Tigers, has once again been selected by his peers as the Atlantic University Sport Coach of the Year.

This is the ninth AUS Coach of the Year award for Ota in eleven years since he took over the Dalhousie program in 1999. The first-place Tigers (16-2) finished the regular season undefeated versus Atlantic conference opponents and suffered their only two losses of the year at the hands of the CIS No. 1 ranked Laval Rouge et Or during interlock play.

His Tigers are seeking their 24th consecutive conference championship this weekend.

The last Atlantic conference head coach to be named CIS Coach of the Year was Al Scott of Dalhousie in 1988-89.

The Student-Athlete and Community Service Award winner and nominee for the CIS Dale Iwanoczko Award nominee for 2009-10 is once again Jacob Kilpatrick of the UNB Varsity Reds. The nominee for this award is a player exhibiting outstanding achievement in volleyball, academics and community involvement.  

Kilpatrick, a middle blocker in his fourth year of eligibility, also received this award last season. He is a two-time conference all-star and this season he ranked second in AUS blocks this season with 1.13 per game, fourth in hitting percentage (0.281) and sixth in scoring (2.75 points per game).

A native of Saint John, NB, Jacob is a Civil Engineering student at UNB, a three-time Academic all-Canadian and is the president of the UNB Student-Athletes' Council.

He is involved as an organizer and leader with UNB's "Heads Up with the Reds" program where student-athletes visit local area schools and talk to children each year about Respect, Enthusiasm, Dedication and Strategy. He also participates in the school's "Read with the Reds" program, reading to over 1,100 kindergarten children each year.

Dalhousie's Nik Rademacher (2007-08), Jeff Weiler (2005-06), Chris Geddes (2002-03) and Paul Villeneuve (1993-94) are all previous recipients of the CIS award.

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The 2010 Subway Atlantic University Sport men's volleyball championship is a best two-of-three series between the Dalhousie Tigers (16-2) and the UNB Varsity Reds (9-9), and begins this Friday at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS.

The championship schedule is as follows:

Friday, February 26th
- Game 1: UNB at Dalhousie, 7pm

Sunday, February 28th
- Game 2: Dalhousie at UNB, 2pm

Saturday, March 6th
- Game 3: UNB at Dalhousie, 2pm* (*if necessary)

Source:

John Keefe
Communications Manager
Atlantic University Sport