by Cody Baugh

As the two-time defending AUS champions, the Tigers went in to the season looking to improve upon their CIS fourth-place finish last year. With five of last year’s seven starters still in the lineup, the team featured a blend of seasoned veterans and fresh faces. 

After splitting a pair of pre-season games with UBC, the Tigers started the regular season playing host of the first of three AUS-RSEQ Interlock events. They posted a 1-2 record, recording their sole victory with a win over Montreal.

Off to a slightly disappointing start, Dalhousie won four of their five next matches with wins over Memorial (2), Laval and Sherbrooke, which put them at 5-3 in the standings heading into the Holiday break.

They headed to Waterloo for the Warrior Holiday Tournament at the end of December, posting another 1-2 weekend. The Tigers posted a win against Winnipeg and losses to Queen’s and Waterloo.

The Tigers had two big wins over UNB to open up the 2016 leg of the season. After a 3-1 victory over the Varsity Reds the night before, the Tigers watched a 2-0 set lead evaporate, but dug deep to take the fifth and final set 15-10.

In the third and final AUS-RSEQ Interlock event of the season, Dalhousie fell to both Montreal and Laval but managed to take down Sherbrooke.

They finished off the regular season with two wins over Memorial and two losses to UNB to secure first place in the AUS standings heading into the post-season.

As the regular season winners, the Tigers hosted the first of the best two-of-three series. They dropped the first match 3-0 and were off to UNB for the second game of the series the following weekend where they posted a 3-2 win to tie the series at one apiece. Back on home turf the following weekend, UNB pulled out a 3-1 victory over the Tigers, ending their season.

“Our goal is to always win a conference championship, so from that perspective losing in the AUS final was a disappointment for us,” says head coach Dan Ota. “However there were other goals that we set for ourselves, which I think we were able to accomplish.”

While the Tigers may have fallen short of their ultimate goal, the team fought through adversity and had many individual achievements. Jonathan Macdonald, Matthew Donovan, Adam Sandeson, and Kristen O’Brien were all named to the AUS all-star team. Sandeson was the libero of the year for the second consecutive season and Dan Ota received his 14th AUS coach of the year honour.

With some key injuries through the season, rookie Harrison Callaghan stepped up in the biggest moments. “He was often one of our best players in the second half of the season,” says Ota. “His return to the lineup in the playoffs sparked a huge momentum shift for our team.”

The Tigers will lose Jonathan Macdonald, Justin Lynch, Logan Baillie and Connor Maessen to graduation.