All-Canadian honours for Cottreau
Sainte-Anne volleyball star leads Dragons to ACAA silver medal
Sainte-Anne Dragons captain Alec Cottreau was riding the bus with his college volleyball teammates when he casually learned that he had been named an all-Canadian.
A week after he became the lone Nova Scotia player chosen to the Atlantic Colleges Athletic Association men’s all-conference team, Cottreau received word of his national honours while the Dragons were on their way to Fredericton for the ACAA final.
“I was shocked,” he said of the all-Canadian selection. “It’s always good to get your name put into a word like that. I was really excited about that. It’s pretty cool.”
Sainte-Anne coach Jason Melanson broke the national news to Cottreau, a Par-enBas high school graduate from Plymouth, Yarmouth County.
“We were on the bus, heading to the finals, and just talking about awards,” said the 21-year-old business student.
“Our coach was, like, ‘By the way, you know you’re an all-Canadian, right? You probably already knew that.’ I was, like, ‘What did you say? Nope. I did not know.’
“We were all pumped up. I mean, it’s pretty exciting when somebody gets an award like that.”
The recognition from the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association was a measure of Cottreau’s contribution to the resurgence of the young Dragons, who reached the bestof-three ACAA final before losing 2-0 to the top-ranked St. Thomas Tommies.
He brought experience from half a season of Atlantic university volleyball with the Dalhousie Tigers, before transferring back home to Sainte-Anne early in 2020.
His Dragons’ debut, however, was delayed until this season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was definitely anxious and I couldn’t wait to start,” Cottreau said. “It had been quite a long time since I got to play a game, so I was just excited to actually start playing again and have fun on the court.”
Even with more pandemic disruptions this season, the Dragons had their share of fun on the court. They placed second in the regular season with a 5-5 record. In front of an enthusiastic home crowd, SainteAnne defeated the UNB-Saint John Seawolves 3-1 in suddendeath playoff action at Church Point.
“The crowd was pumped up for that game,” Cottreau said. “That was one of my favourite games to play. The gym was loud. Everybody was playing their best games. It was a fun game.
“I think that’s the first playoff game we’ve ever played at home, because usually there’s (conference) championships and we’ll play away. So, it was pretty exciting to play at home for a playoff game.”
The challenge in the ACAA championship was that much greater as the Dragons faced a veteran St. Thomas team that had gone 9-1 in the regular season. The Tommies won six consecutive sets to complete the sweep and earn their second straight conference banner.
“It was a disappointing way to go out,” said Cottreau, who led Sainte-Anne with nine kills in each match. “It was definitely not what we wanted, but we put on a fight in a few sets. We went out and played our best. There were a few guys that really showed up that game. I know Jeremy Bourque, he hit above .500. It was one of the best games I’ve ever seen him play. It was definitely good to see a couple of guys just really perform well for the team.”
St. Thomas courted success with a lineup that included former league MVP Christian Christie and this season’s ACAA player of the year, Gustavo Lobato, a Brazilian with pro-level experience.
“They had a good team,” affirmed Cottreau, a six-foot-three right-side hitter.
Armed with a strong nucleus of local talent, Sainte-Anne broke new ground for the contemporary Dragons. It was the program’s first trip to the ACAA final in more than 20 years. Sainte-Anne last won the conference championship in the 1996-97 season.
“Overall, I think it’s a pretty successful season,” Cottreau said of the 2021-22 campaign. “We went from being in last place for at least the last 10 years to finish second, which is pretty good.
“All the guys got better. Braidey (Spinney) got really good. Jeremy Bourque, too. Even our setter, Josh Aucoin, he got really good at the end.
“I mean, it sucks to lose in the finals, but it was a pretty successful year.”
As he made the switch to ACAA volleyball this season, Cottreau saw familiar faces from high school and provincial teams. In high school, Bourque and Spinney also played at Par-en-Bas in Tusket, while Aucoin came from Sommet in Halifax.
“Any experience is helpful,” Cottreau said. “Dal definitely helped (me) a lot. Even the provincial teams, I think there’s five or six of us that have all played on provincial teams. All that experience definitely helps.”
Those Team Nova Scotia players with the Dragons include Cottreau, Aucoin, Bourque, Spinney, Dawson Babin and Gabriel Beaton.
With the Sainte-Anne roster expected to remain intact, the Dragons are poised to be a contender next season and beyond.
“I don’t think we’re losing anybody,” Cottreau said. “We’re one of the younger teams in the league. We might have a few good recruits coming in, too. I know Josh Aucoin’s cousin, he’s from the city and he’s a six-foot-five power, so he’s going to be a great addition for us.”
Aucoin’s cousin, Oliver Rutherford of Mosaique high school in Dartmouth, committed to the Dragons in March. Other potential recruits visited the Sainte-Anne campus in April.
For the second half of this school year, Cottreau juggled his volleyball commitments with a co-op work term at an accounting firm in Yarmouth. He’ll continue to work with the company in the off-season as he strives to become an accountant.
During this summer, Cottreau and some of his Dragons teammates, along with coach Melanson, plan to play competitive beach volleyball at the provincial level.