Hurricanes capture individual ACAA awards

Joe Ryan was named the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) men’s volleyball coach of the year Friday at the conference’s banquet.

The Charlottetown native led the Holland College Hurricanes to first place in the regular season with an 11-4 record. It is the second time Ryan has won the award in his six seasons with the team. He won in 2011-12, which is also the last season the Hurricanes entered the ACAA championship as the No. 1 seed.

First-year Hurricane Marcus Lapointe of Wolfville, N.S., was named the libero of the year. The Hurricanes also received six all conference awards. Bahamian Kenton Dawkins, Cymbria’s Gordon Veitch and Charlottetown’s Brett Butler were named first-team all-conference players. Dawkins, a middle in his second year with the Hurricanes, was also named an all-Canadian, an award he’ll received at the nationals in Toronto in March.

On the women’s side, Alice Marques, a first-year Hurricanes right side from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and second-year setter Gracie Ferguson from Fall River, N.S., were named first-team all-conference players. Rookie Brittany States from Bathurst, N.B., was named to the second all-conference team. The conference championships started Friday and conclude on Sunday.