VICTORIA, B.C. - Durham College women's volleyball head coach Tony Clarke was named the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) coach of the year Wednesday night.

Presented at the CCAA national championship banquet hosted by Camosun College in Victoria, B.C., this was the second time Clarke was nominated for the award in his time at Durham College, but first time receiving the honour.

"I'm truly humbled," said Clarke. "This award means a lot, but it couldn't be done without my assistant coaches Alex and Kourtney. This recognizes what we do as a coaching staff, not just what I do as an individual. They are just as deserving as I am."

Clarke said being amongst his peers to receive this award, as well as CCAA All-Canadian Allison Marshall (Orillia, Ont.) was special, but he wishes his team was there with him.

"When I attended the banquet after being nominated two years ago it was a fantastic experience, but at an event like that you notice the one thing missing is your team," he said. "I would love to have them here sharing in this experience with me. It just makes me want to work that much harder to get the program to the national championship."

His season was nothing but outstanding, with the team's only loss coming in their final game of the year - the OCAA gold medal match - which the Humber Hawks won.

Their conference record of 18-0 was the first perfect season since 2006 and Marshall became the first Lord to win OCAA women's volleyball player of the year.

In three years at Durham College he has also posted an impressive 50-6 conference record and 66-18 overall record.

"We're proud of what the volleyball program has become since Tony became head coach," said athletic director Ken Babcock. "To be in the final four every year since he started here and win two silver medals is outstanding. Being named CCAA coach of the year is another major accomplishment and we're excited to see what else the future holds for our program."

Since the conclusion of the season for the Lords Clarke has remained busy, starting to heavily focus on recruiting, while also being invited to the Ottawa Valley Vikings annual high school all-star game as an honourary coach.

Marshall was also recognized at the banquet as a CCAA All-Canadian.

Marshall received the honour after completing her five-year college career between the Georgian Grizzlies and Durham Lords, which saw her finish sixth all-time in league scoring with 1,029 points. This season she was fifth in the OCAA with 3.20 kills per set (176 kills), sixth in points per set with 4.0 and tenth in aces per set with 0.67.

She is also a four-time league all-star in her time at the collegiate level.

Source: Durham College