The 2009-10 Tigers entered the year with six of seven starters from last year's squad, including two national team players, meaning that a very experienced squad would take to the court this season.
The Tigers placed a heavy emphasis on training on and off the court during the months of September and October. The squad hosted UBC for a pair of exhibition matches in early October, and each team won a match in the highly competitive series.
League play began in November and the Tigers had to deal with UNB as the main competition in the AUS, and Laval as the team to beat in the Quebec interlock. By the end of the first half of the season, the Tigers had a 4-0 record against their Atlantic opponents, and a 3-1 record in the first interlock tournament in UNB, with the lone loss being a five-set loss to Laval.
Following a five-week break from competition, the Tigers regrouped in Vancouver after Christmas for a training camp with host UBC. The squad had an opportunity to check out some of the Olympic facilities in Vancouver and Whistler before traveling to Kamloops for a tournament at Thompson Rivers University, the host site of the CIS championship. The tournament featured four of the top six ranked teams in the country, and an eight-team single elimination format like the CIS championship. The Tigers opened with a quarter-final win against then #2 ranked Calgary then followed up with a convincing straight set win in the semi-final against the #6 ranked Trinity Western. Unfortunately, the squad was unable to keep the momentum going in the final as they fell to NCAA powerhouse Pepperdine.
In January, the Tigers traveled to McGill for the second interlock tournament. Once again, the squad went 3-1 against Quebec opponents, with the lone loss again coming to #1 ranked Laval. Dal continued their dominance over AUS opponents, winning all six matches in the second half as they finished the regular season with a 16-2 league record. Max Burt, Devon Parkinson and Erik Montgomery were selected as AUS All-Stars, while Sander Ratsep was named AUS Most Valuable Player. Travis MacLean was named AUS Libero of the Year while Dan Ota was named AUS Coach of the Year.
UNB was once again the playoff opponent in the best of three AUS final. The Tigers won in two straight matches without dropping a set. Sander Ratsep was named AUS Playoff MVP and Dal captured their 24th consecutive conference title and 31st consecutive trip to nationals!
Next up was the national championship in Kamloops. Despite their #2 ranking for the past month of the season, the Tigers faced a tough first round match-up, drawing former #1 ranked Calgary - a rematch of the quarterfinals at the TRU tournament in January, which the Tigers had won in four sets. To add to the challenge, the squad lost AUS all-star Devon Parkinson to an ankle injury in the last practice prior to departure for Kamloops. Despite the setback, the Tigers were able to jump out to a 2-0 lead in sets in the quarter-final and looked poised for a semi-final berth. Unfortunately, a slip in play and key mental errors allowed eventual tournament champions Calgary the opportunity to come back and take the match in five sets. A second consecutive five-set first rounf loss at nationals was devastating to the team's morale and they were unable to recover on the following day as they lost to hot Thompson Rivers in the consolation semi-final. A 21-6 season record and a #2 CIS ranking were exceptional season accomplishments for the Tigers, but at the time these seemed a small consolation for the Tigers squad that was two points away from a semi-final berth, and saw their first round opponents eventually take CIS gold.
Two Tigers are graduating from this year's team: fifth year middle blocker Erik Montgomery, and fifth year setter Russ Lawrence, both who have been instrumental to the team's success during their years of service.
Several important individuals made major contributions to the program and the Tigers are appreciative of their efforts and commitment to the team. Danielle Poulos (mental training), Eugene Tan (coach), Tara Correia and Jamie Cooper (trainers) were all back with the team this season. Scott Townsend (full-time assistant coach) and Morgan White (trainer) were new additions to the team this year. Other individuals making contributions were Johannes Zimmerman and Darren Steeves (strength and conditioning).