OAKVILLE, Ont. - For a third straight season, libero Liam Butchereit has been named an OCAA All-Star.
"I'm really proud of Liam, he's the heart and soul of our team," head coach Frank Pento said. "Obviously it says something about how well he's respected in the league to have been named an All-Star in every season he's been in it."
It also marked the third campaign in which he has led the OCAA in digs, posting 190 this year, good for an average of 3.1 per set. He had 13 more digs than second-ranked Richard Ngo of Seneca, despite playing in six less sets.
Although his dig total and average dipped from last year - a career-high 238 total, with an average of 3.5 - that was less to do with his production, and more to do with playing out of position at times to best equip the team. In his first two seasons he scored a combined 14 points, with only four kills among them, but quintupled that point total with 70 this year, including a pair of standout performances in mid November when he posted double doubles against Conestoga (17 points, 10 digs) and Niagara (23 points, 11 digs).
Butchereit ascended to the top of the Sheridan record book and is now the Bruins' all-time digs leader. He also put himself in rareified air within the OCAA and is the sixth player to top 600 digs. His 618 career digs is good for the fifth most in league history, and he is now just 113 shy of tying the Ontario record.
It took only 49 matches for Liam Butchereit to set a new @sheridancollege �� record for most all-time digs. The defensive specialist now has 555 in his career. pic.twitter.com/fcjNQNMZYx
— Sheridan Bruins (@sheridanbruins) January 29, 2019