This season there was a lot to be proud of, and I do mean a LOT! A-Team climbing to a 10th overall finish in conference after starting well below their normal threshold, B-Team competed in Nationals for the first time in program history, and countless others. However, there is one stat in particular that I would like to bring notice to.
In a collegiate club environment, I see many players come and go. Some I may get for only one season, others I may get upwards of five; but there is one player that I have had the absolute pleasure of building this team around over the past five seasons. That athlete is Colin Clement.
Colin came on the team as an opposite hitter his first year, being one of the few players with playing experience following high school. With Jacob Tidwell still under command at setter, Colin took his role and ran with it. Even though he was a great hitter for us, it just didn't maximize his skill set. Thus, we began his career as the A-Team leading setter. Colin really seemed to find his groove, and he found it quick. He is a natural born leader and he really leaned into that. He helped me develope new play books (even if we rarely got to use them), he pushed players at practice to strive for the absolute best, and he was a voice that everyone needed during the good times and even the bad. He took a firm command of the team and never let go. The best thing about his leadership is he always had his sites set on one thing: winning.
During his first season, he started during the COIVD-19 pandemic. While this would typically be a less than fortunate circumstance, it actually played into Colin's favor. He was able to use the short-lived season to really build with the team fundamentally at a slower pace rather than competing in 7+ tournaments and fast-tracking the foundation work. I personally think that this was the best way to integrate him into a new role and a new offense.
The following 2022 season is where Colin really took off. He opened his first official season at Centenary with a 34 assit game, setting a high standard for what was to come! From there, he did nothing but grow. He continued season after season, game after game, set after set, to do nothing but make sure that he alwayas left his tank empty. We joked this [2025] season about him getting a perfect attendance award - but it was true. Throughout his entire five year career, I can only think of a single tournament that he missed for his brother's wedding and one practice this season that he missed after pulling an "all nighter" for a group project. That alone shows how much he was dedicated to this program.
At the begging of the 2024 season, Colin said one of his goals was to reach 1,000 career assists. While I may slack sometimes on stat-taking, I do try my best to keep updated stats for both teams as much as possible. So, Colin's goal was definitely a reasonalbe statistic to strive for. However, halfway through the season (unknowningly to him), I realized that 1,000 assists was not going to be possible. After the conference championships, I was extremely pleased to take notice that Colin didn't just reach his 1,000 assist goal, he DOUBLED it! No one on the team knew this, as much as I wanted to yell for excitement, I decided to wait to announce the big news at the awards banquet, with hopes to make it a bit more personal for him.
So, on April 20th, 2025, Colin was presented with his very on plaque in which read that on March 29th, 2025, he had reached 2,000 Career Assits. While he did all the physical work to make that happen, I am extremely honored and proud to just be apart of this journey.
Colin, you may have played your last game here at Louisiana Tech, but I promise that you have created a long lasting legacy that absolutley no one can deny. You will forever be apart of our family, and I will always be grateful for what you have built for this program.
-- Coach Caleb
