By Madison Gummow
Photo by Railene Hooper
Records are made to be broken, and Mitch Lewington, setter for the men’s Ooks volleyball team, has done just that. Lewington has broken the ACAC all-time record for most career assists and there is still over a month left in the season.
“Everytime I set the ball to a hitter and they kill it, meaning they spike the ball and it results in a point for our team, I get an assist. I now have 2552 assists in my career which is the new ACAC all-time record,” said Lewington.
The Australian native played on the Australian Junior National Team before coming to Canada and joining the Ooks.
“I enjoy playing here, it’s more my talent level. It’s more competitive as all the teams in this league are at a similar skill level,” said Lewington.
With most NAIT programs lasting only two years, Lewington has had to deal with a lot of turnover when it comes to his team.
“It’s been tough, luckily every year I’ve been here we’ve kept at least one of the core players, so even though we lose a few players every year there’s always one or two key players that stay so it’s easy to keep the team values carrying over each year,” said Lewinton.
Lewington doesn’t take all the credit for his success, he says his coaches and teammates have been a huge part of his accomplishments.
“My teammate, Devon Klein, has been with me the whole time and he’s been one of the best players. That’s helped a lot in me breaking the record,” said Lewington.
Devon Klein has been a middle on the team for the last four years and says he is proud to have contributed to Lewington’s achievement.
“We started off together in our first years and we’ve been together for the four. It’s great to have Mitch successful in the assists. That’s a big accomplishment and I’m really happy that I could be a part of his growth,” said longtime teammate Devon Klein.
As for next year, Lewington says he’s not completely sure what he will be doing. However, it appears this may be his final season with the Ooks.
“I’m done my program next year so I might be working, the plan as of now is not to play next year,” said Lewington, who may be looking for a new bar to set, or a new record to break.
