The Kodiaks men’s volleyball team was honoured for the best season in program history at the ACAC awards banquet on Wednesday evening. Head coach Greg Gibos was named south division coach of the year and four Kodiaks – Carter Hansen, Michael Hummel, Matt Primrose and Dax Whitehead – were named to the ACAC south all-conference team.
Gibos is in his third season as Kodiaks coach, and led his team to a 22-2 record and first place in the ACAC south division. He has recruited and built a team based around southern Alberta talent, while rising to the top of the ACAC standings. His program also has one of the best grade point averages of any Kodiaks team this season. Gibos has been selected as the ACAC representative to move forward for CCAA coach of the year consideration.
“When I hired Greg he displayed a level of enthusiasm to not just coach at the collegiate level but commit to grow the game of volleyball in southern Alberta” says Todd Caughlin, Lethbridge College Athletics manager. “The commitment and dedication that Greg brings every day to his student athletes, the program and the college is incredible, and he has done the work to earn this recognition. He has built a program that has been long overdue at Lethbridge College and with the type of student-athletes he has constructed it with – it’s an incredible accomplishment.”
Each of the Kodiaks four all-stars sat among the conference leaders in a variety of statistical categories. Hansen (fourth year, General Studies, Magrath), who led the Kodiaks and finished second in the ACAC in kills, was named to the team for the first time in his four-year Kodiaks career. Whitehead (fifth year, General Studies, Moose Jaw, Sask.) was named an all-star for a third straight year after he became the all-time ACAC and CCAA leader in kills. Primrose (third year, General Studies, Lethbridge) is an all-star for the second straight season after he finished sixth in the conference in digs. And Hummel (fourth year, Agriculture Sciences, Picture Butte) was named a first-time all-star after finishing sixth in the conference in blocks.
The Kodiaks open this week’s ACAC championships at 6 p.m. on Thursday against The King’s University Eagles in Edmonton. Learn more about the Kodiaks road to the postseason on gokodiaks.ca.