The 2016-17 U SPORTS men's volleyball major season award winners, All-Canadian and All-Rookie teams were announced on Thursday, March 16. The University of Manitoba Bisons had one coach and one student-athlete honoured with a major award.
Bison head coach Garth Pischke named as 2016-17 U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Coach of the Year and Ken Rooney selected as 2016-17 U SPORTS Dale Iwanoczko Award (Student-Athlete Community Service) nominee.
Pischke, in his 35th season at Manitoba, guided the squad to a 21-3 conference regular season record in 2016-17 and finished first in Canada West, while ranking No.1 in the country for four weeks. Manitoba had the longest conference win streak this season at 20 matches (Nov. 4 - Feb. 11/17) and were host of the Canada West Final Four for the second time in program's history (2003-04 season).
Pischke has been a U SPORTS Coach of the Year five previous times (1981-82, 1983-84, 1987-88, 1989-90, 1994-95 seasons) before this season.
On January 14 this season at home against UBC, Pischke, 61, reached another milestone with his 1,300 overall match win. He continues to increase his total as he holds the North American all-time coaching match wins record for men's volleyball. After the Canada West final Four, the Winnipeg native now holds an overall coaching match record at 1,311-363 (.783 winning percentage). This is also the most overall coaching wins by a U SPORTS head coach in history.
During Pischke's 35 years as the Bison men's volleyball head coach, the Bisons have now qualified for the U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championships 27 times and won nine titles with Pischke at the helm. Under Pischke, Manitoba Bisons have collected nine gold, nine silver and five U SPORTS bronze medals, two fourth-place finishes, and their lowest showing being a fifth place finish in 26 appearances so far at the U SPORTS Championship level.
"Garth's selection as the U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Coach of the Year is fantastic news for Bison Sports. His record is unparalleled in university volleyball and he continues to drive the success of our program," said Manitoba director of athletics Gene Muller. "He achieved the milestone of 1,300 overall wins as a Bison coach this season and led the Bisons team to a 20-game win streak in conference league play. We are excited and honored by this award given to Garth."
Rooney, 22, is the third Bison to be named as Dale Iwanoczko Award winner (Scott Koskie: 1994-95, Dane Pischke: 2012-13). The fifth year Management student-athlete has been a three-time U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian (2013-14 to '15-16) and has been a team captain for the last four consecutive seasons.
Rooney has been a leader on and off the floor since the moment he joined the Manitoba program. In addition to his studies and athletic prowess, he has been part of University of Manitoba Athletic Council (UMAC) for last four years, including the last two years as president. He has worked to coordinate two key outreach initiatives for the Bisons, helping to lead the Bisons Against Bullying program, as well as the Bison Book Buddies Program.
Rooney has also been a volunteer for Manitoba's 'I Love to Read' program, which is a month-long celebration that is held each year to encourage reading, writing, and sharing in the joy of literacy. In addition to these volunteer commitments, Rooney also volunteers at the Siloam Mission, which is a Christian humanitarian organization that alleviates hardships and provides opportunities for change for those affected by homelessness. Rooney has also been a club volleyball coach for five years while at Manitoba.
On the court, Rooney has been a two-time conference all-star (First Team All-Star: 2014-15; Second Team All-Star: 2015-16) while also being named to the U SPORTS All-Rookie Team and was Canada West Rookie of the Year in 2012-13.
"Ken is a fantastic role model for all of our student-athletes. He has taken on a leadership role both on and off the court and is always involved in some form of giving back," said Pischke. "He has been one of my favourite athletes to coach over my career and his incredible work ethic is truly inspiring."
Bison Notes: The Manitoba Bisons men's volleyball team are the Canada West silver medallist after the 2017 Canada West Final Four hosted by Manitoba on March 10-11 weekend. The squad is the second seed for the 2017 U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship being held from March 17-19 at University of Alberta in Edmonton.
The Bisons (regular season: 21-3 record; playoffs: 1-1) will play against the seven seed and host Alberta Golden Bears (20-4 regular season; 2-1 playoffs) in their first game on Friday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m. CT (live webcast details at gobisons.ca).
