Huskies’ Garrett May named OCAA Coach of the Year

The 2017-18 season may not have ended the way the men’s volleyball team had hoped for, but it will go in the books as a successful one.

While the Huskies did not come away from the OCAA Championship at Georgian College with a medal, they did collect an important victory at the provincial championship, defeating Fleming in a consolation semi-final. 

The four-set win was a nice bounce back after a tough quarter-final loss to Redeemer that ended any championship aspirations for George Brown College (GBC).

“The past seven years this program didn’t have a single match win at the provincial championships,” said May. “We knew it was a great opportunity, and possibly our last matchup of the year, to go get this program’s first match win at the provincial championships.”

Following the victory over Fleming, the Huskies concluded their season with a loss to Conestoga in the consolation final. 

However, the sixth place finish won’t overshadow the club’s impressive regular season, a campaign that earned May OCAA Coach of the Year honours. 

After dropping their season-opener, GBC reeled off 11 wins in their next 12 matches on the way to posting a 13-5 record, good enough for second place in the East division. 

The Huskies were road warriors, winning seven of nine matches on opposition courts. GBC had three players named OCAA All-Stars: outside hitter D’Artaniel Jackman, middle Ahmed Youssef and setter Pradeep Bhogal.

For Jackman, who played his last game in a Huskies uniform, this season was special.

“I’m glad that we were able to go to provincials again,” said Jackman, who led GBC in almost every offensive category this season. “Obviously, it didn’t go our way, but the journey it took to get there was something that can’t be replaced at all and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

May has just completed his second season as head coach and has put up a 23-13 record in the regulars season. The player turnover for next season is something that will present a challenge for the men’s volleyball program.

“What’s going to be tough for us going into next year is we’re graduating, I think, eight players, five starters. It’s going to be tough to recover from that,” said May, noting that bringing in recruits will be a part of the building process.

“We’re excited. I think we’re going to be very competitive next year.”