David Pastor, Sports Reporter
Humber men’s and women’s volleyball teams set a season record for All-Stars selections this past week.
The men’s four selections from Humber in this year’s Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) league All-Stars are Jake Gomes, Andrew Blakey, Rrezart Sadiku and Randy Kim.
Collin Skanes, Humber’s middle blocker, is grateful for the leadership that the group of all-stars brings on-and-off the court.
“You can go to them with your problems and they help you build on your skills,” he said.
“When we needed that final point in the final game, we knew we can rely on them to step up.”
Jake Gomes was named men’s volleyball OCAA Player of the Year. He is the second Hawk to ever receive the award. Gomes also holds the Humber record for most assists with 1,172. Andrew Blakey led the team in blocks with 27 and had an impressive swing percentage of .538.
Blakey is in his final season with the men’s volleyball team and is happy with his all-star selection.“Winning the OCAA championship this year means so much more because we finally bring gold home after five seasons,” said Blakey.
Rady Kim, Humber’s setter received his second all-star nod after leading the team in digs for the past two seasons.
Rrezart Sadiku received his first all-star selection in his final season with Humber with a career-high 143 points this season and third-best swing percentage in OCAA with .380.
Over the last 33 years, the men’s volleyball team at Humber has had 55 all-stars.
The Women’s team this year alone had a total of five all-stars. The Hawks women’s all-stars are Alex Krstonosic, Julia Watson, Alex Bartmann, Shiann Williams and Alex Lachapelle.
Over the past two decades, the women’s team has had 65 OCAA All-Star selections. In previous years the team has had three OCAA All-Star selections in a single season, a feat that has occurred nine times.
Alex Lachapelle set a program record 262 digs in her first year with the team solidifying her first-ever all-star selection.
Alex Krstonosic, Humber’s middle blocker, also made the list with the second-best swing percentage of .381 in the OCAA league.
Julia Watson received her first OCAA All-Star selection in four years.
“This is my first-time and it feels pretty good,” said Watson.
“It feels nice to be recognized for all the hard work we put in,” she said.
She led the team in kills and was ranked 10th overall in points per set in the OCAA competition.
Shainn Williams, Humber’s middle blocker, led the OCAA ranking with 49 blocks, setting a record of most blocks in program history since 1999.
As for Alex Bartmann, she set a program record for most assists in a single season with 481 bringing her total to 1,093, ranking her first in Humber Hawk history.
Bartmann praised the volleyball team for all the hard work and dedication throughout the season.“It shows how much talent we have and how hard we’ve worked over the season,” she said.
“I believe that every one of us is an all-star.”
The men’s and women’s teams led by their stars now begin to prepare for the nationals.
