Saints Volleyball Season Previews

Windsor, ON – The St. Clair College Women's and Men's Volleyball programs open their OCAA regular season at the SportsPlex Saturday afternoon against Conestoga College (Kitchener) and then host Mohawk College (Hamilton) on Sunday afternoon. It will be the first regular season action for the Saints since February 2019.  Due to OCAA rules no spectators are permitted at games until February 21.

The St. Clair Women are coming off a great regular season in 2019-20 finishing in 3rd place in the OCAA West with a record of 13-5. The Saints went on to win an OCAA Bronze Medal. The women are currently ranked 7th in Canada. It is the Saints highest National Ranking since 1996-97.

The women have four players returning from the roster two years ago along with nine rookies on the roster. Key returning veterans are all rookie team second year 6'0 outside hitter Chantal DeVlugt (Wyoming; LCCVI), third year setter Rileigh Davis (Georgetown; Georgetown District) along with the second year libero tandem of Lia DeGirolamo (Newmark; Sir William Mulock) and Alexis Stewart (Windsor; St. Joseph's). A key addition to the team will be transfer Sarah Dobinson (Whitby; Donald A. Wilson) who played at Niagara University (NCAA) and Thompson Rivers University (CanWest). Dobinson is a 6'0 outside hitter.

Of the nine rookies a big contribution is expected from 5'9 outside hitter Kiana Huggins (London; Saunders) with many other rookies expected to get lots of playing time in a condensed schedule.

Head Coach Jimmy El-Turk has high expectations for this group. "It's been nearly 2 years since we last laced them up for official competition and our team is beyond excited to have a chance to put the jerseys on and play in meaningful competition. Overall, it's a very different looking team than 2 years ago, with only 4 returning athletes from our bronze medal team in 2019-2020 but our program expectations haven't changed. The team is continuing to work tirelessly to accomplish our goal of being crowned OCAA Champions and we can't wait to begin on journey towards that goal this Saturday vs. Conestoga."

The St. Clair Men will look to improve on their 8-10 regular season record in 2019-20 and 6th place finish in the OCAA's West Division and a tough first round playoff exit.  Shawn Reaume is entering his second season as head coach.

Reaume has a new look roster as well with only three players back from 2019-20. 6'3 Middle Ubert Batista (3rd year, Panama) and the versatile Simran Pahal (2nd Year; Kitchener; Huron Heights) are expected to be key veteran contributors and leaders.

Of the eleven rookies Reaume is expecting significant contributions from 6'3 outside hitter Marc Galipeau (LaSalle; Sandwich) and 6'2 setter Nick Kwaitkowski (Essex, Essex District).

Reaume knows there will be some growing pains this year for such a young team but is confident in his group. "We're very excited to get back on the court for some much needed high stakes competition. Anything can happen in such a short time, but we're confident that the work we've put in will set us up for a successful and meaningful season."

Both teams will be playing 9 regular season games before advancing into the OCAA playoffs.

See below the weekend schedule for the Saints Volleyball programs.

All games will be live streamed and produced by WE Digital Productions and can be viewed on the following link

https://portal.stretchinternet.com/stclair/

Sat, Feb. 12th

1:00pm                 St. Clair Women's Game vs. Conestoga College

3:00pm                 St. Clair Men's Game vs. Conestoga College

Sun, Feb. 13th

1:00pm                 St. Clair Women's Game vs. Mohawk College

3:00pm                 St. Clair Men's Game vs. Mohawk College