HAMILTON, Ont. – Western Mustangs star Eric Simon was named Ontario University Athletics (OUA) player of the year and teammate Phil James the OUA rookie of the year as part of the league's announcement of its major award winners and all-stars for men’s volleyball.
Simon (London, Ont.), 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 and will be a game-day decision, nursing an ankle injury, when the Mustangs host Waterloo on the Saturday Feb. 27 OUA Quarter-Final at Alumni Hall at 1 p.m.
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.
Mathieu Poulin (Winnipeg) was named as a second-team all-star.
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
