Game 5: Medicine Hat Rattlers 3, Holland Hurricanes 0
Day 2 of the CCAA Men’s Volleyball National Championship kicked off with the #5 seeded Medicine Hat Rattlers dominating in straight sets over the #8 seeded Holland Hurricanes by scores of 25-13, 25-14 and 25-23.
The Rattlers jumped ahead 6-1 in the first but back-to-back kills by Tynan Murphy had Holland back on track. With Medicine Hat’s Alfred Dalevik serving, the Rattlers took a comfortable 12-4 advantage in the set. The Rattlers took over and went on to take the first set by a final score of 25-13.
In the second set, the Hurricanes stepped up their game and were within one, 10-9, after a pair of kills by Kenton Dawkins. With Medicine Hat leading 12-11, the Rattlers called a timeout, regrouped and came back on the court with more energy. The Rattlers would finish the set on a 13-3 run and take the set easily 25-14 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Holland led 5-3 early in the third set but a huge middle attack by Zach Frank shut down any type of momentum that the Hurricanes had. Holland continued to battle and at one point led by four, 13-9. The Rattlers chipped away and took the lead back at 16-15 after a kill by CCAA Player of the Year Isak Helland-Hansen. In what was easily the closest set of the match, it went down right to the end but with the score 24-23 for Medicine Hat, a missed serve by Holland gave the Rattlers the set 25-23. Medicine Hat moves on to the bronze medal semi-final on Saturday at 12pm versus the loser of the VIU Mariners vs. Red Deer Kings match.
Medicine Hat’s outside hitter Alfred Dalevik was the Rattlers Player of the Game while middle blocker Kenton Dawkins was named the Player of the Game for Holland.
Medicine Hat’s Player of the Game: Alfred Dalevik – 16 points (14 kills, 2 aces), 4 digs
Holland’s Player of the Game: Kenton Dawkins – 9 points (8 kills, 1 block), 1 dig
Game 6: Fanshawe Falcons 3, Mohawk Mountaineers 2
In the second bronze quarter-final of the day, the fans at the Glenn Johnston Athletic Centre were treated to a thriller as the battle of Ontario continued. The #7 seeded host Falcons upset the #3 seeded Mohawk Mountaineers in a five set marathon by scores of 22-25, 25-16, 20-25, 27-25 and 15-12.
Both teams were fired up to start the match with the Mountaineers jumping out to an early 5-2 lead. A pair of big kills by Fanshawe’s outside hitter Andre Foreman tied the game at 7. Mohawk started to pull away in the set behind some tough serving and led 15-9. Fanshawe clawed back and were within one, 22-21, but Mohawk scored three of the final four points including a game ending kill by Nathan Delguidice to take the set 25-22.
In the second, a number of hitting errors by Mohawk gave the Falcons an early advantage but Mohawk came right back to take the lead at 6-5 on a big stuff block by Mitch McFadden. Errors continued to haunt the Mountaineers as Fanshawe increased their lead to five, 14-9, before Mohawk called for time. With James Jackson serving, the Falcons started to pull away. A huge stuff block by Fanshawe’s Captain Jack Daley had the entire gym on their feet as Fanshawe would go on to take the second set 25-16.
Early in the third set, neither team would give up any ground. Fanshawe led by as many as three, 10-7, but Mohawk stormed back with five points of their own, part of which included a red card that was issued to the Falcons libero. Mohawk extended their lead to as many as six as the Mountaineers would take the third set 25-20.
Fanshawe started the fourth set on fire with back-to-back kills by Sam Otten. An ace by Foreman had the Falcons up four early. Fanshawe continued to roll and led 15-8 after arguably the rally of the match which included a diving dig by Foreman and a point ending stuff block at the net by Jackson. Mohawk would settle down and close the gap to three 20-17 on an ace by All-Canadian Trevor McLaughlin. The Mountaineers would come all the way back to tie the game at 25 before Fanshawe scored the final two points to win 27-25 and force a fifth and deciding set.
The Falcons jumped out of the gate scoring the first three points of the fifth on errors by the Mountaineers. When the teams changed sides, Fanshawe was leading 8-3. With Mohawk down by four, McLaughlin served up two straight points for the Mountaineers to get as close as one, 13-12, but Fanshawe would score the final two points to win the set and take the match 3-2.
Fanshawe now moves on to the bronze medal semi-final on Saturday at 10am versus the loser of the Camosun Chargers vs. Titans de Limoilou match.
Andre Foreman was named the Player of the Game for Fanshawe while Trevor McLaughlin was the Player of the Game for the Mountaineers.
Fanshawe’s Player of the Game: Andre Foreman – 14 points (12 kills, 2 aces), 13 digs
Mohawk’s Player of the Game: Trevor McLaughlin – 26 points (20 kills, 4 blocks, 2 aces), 7 digs
Game 7: Titans de Limoilou 3, Camosun Chargers 0
In the first National Championship Semi-Final of the day, the #1 seeded Titans de Limoilou dominated the #4 seeded Camosun Chargers in three straight sets 25-12, 25-23 and 25-13.
The Titans came out with more energy than the Chargers to start the first set. Nicholas Tremblay could not be stopped, scoring on three consecutive attacks to give Limoilou a 10-4 advantage. With the score 13-7, two consecutive blocks by Etienne Belzile extended the Titans lead to eight. Limoilou dominated play in the first set and went on to win 25-12.
Limoilou continued where they left off in the first set and could not be stopped at the net. Missed serves by the Titans kept the game close early but Camosun couldn’t get a flow going on the offensive end. Chargers middle blocker Douglass Waterman scored two straight points up the middle for Camosun to start a rally and close the gap to just two, 19-17. After another Tremblay kill, Limoilou would force Camosun into a pair of hitting errors and take a commanding five point lead. However the Chargers weren’t done yet and were within two after scoring the next three, including a pair of kills by Savana Walkingbear. In the end, Tremblay would score the set point and take the second by a score of 25-23.
The Chargers started the third set with a massive block but Limoilou came right back with four straight points. The Titans were in complete control and leading by six but Camosun wasn’t ready to give in. After consecutive kills by Walkingbear and Cole Beevor-Potts, the Chargers had come back to within two, 13-11. That was as close as they would get as Limoilou would pull away with a 12-2 run to finish the game and take the set 25-13.
Outside hitter Nicholas Tremblay was named the Player of the Game for Limoilou while Savana Walkingbear was the Player of the Game for the Chargers.
Limoilou now moves on to the Gold Medal Final on Saturday at 8pm versus the winner of the VIU Mariners vs. the Red Deer Kings.
Limoilou’s Player of the Game: Nicholas Tremblay – 20 points (18 kills, 1 ace, 1 block), 2 digs
Camosun’s Player of the Game: Savana Walkingbear – 10 kills, 8 digs
Game 8: Red Deer Kings 3, VIU Mariners 1
In the second semi-final match of the day, the #2 ranked Red Deer Kings offense took over as they defeated the #5 ranked VIU Mariners in four sets (25-19, 25-11, 27-29, 25-19).
In the first set, both teams’ offenses looked very crisp. All-Canadian Braydon Brouwer started off fast for the Mariners with two of the first three points in the set but the Kings held the early two point lead. The Kings slowly increased the lead and were up five, 15-10, after a huge one handed block by Regan Fathers. The Mariners continued to fight and kills by Bouwer and Ryan Evans had VIU back within two but the Kings balanced attack proved to be too much as Red Deer pulled away and took the first set 25-19.
The Kings jumped out to an impressive 7-1 lead in the second set, with four kills by Regan Fathers. To compliment Fathers on the outside, Red Deer started to feed the ball into the middle attackers. The Kings extended their lead to double digits, 17-7, controlling the play at the net. VIU made a small push but Red Deer won the set 25-11 and took a commanding two set lead.
In the third, the Mariners came out with more energy and slowly gained a four point lead, 10-6. The Kings battled back and took the lead on a stuff block by Adam Turlejski. The Kings continued to feed the ball to Fathers and led by as many as four but the Mariners were not going to just give up. Kills by Evans and Devon Jennings kept VIU in the game as they would come all the way back after being down 24-20 to tie the game at 24. After both teams went back and forth at the net, VIU would make the full comeback and take the set 29-27, forcing a fourth set.
Red Deer was focussed to start the fourth set and pulled ahead 6-3. The Kings were unstoppable at the net but missed serves were keeping the game close. The Mariners started to make some errors of their own as the Kings began to pull away with the set. Leading 18-12, Ty Moorman hit a massive kill to put the Kings up seven. Red Deer closed out the set 25-19 and won the match 3-1.
Red Deer’s setter Luke Brisbane was named the Player of the Game for the Kings while middle Ryan Evans was the Player of the Game for the Mariners.
In a clash of the top seeded teams and a rematch of last year’s final, the Kings will now meet the #1 ranked Titans de Limoilou in the National Championship Final tomorrow, Saturday, March 11 at 8pm.
Red Deer’s Player of the Game: Luke Brisbane – 51 assists, 11 digs, 2 kills
VIU’s Player of the Game: Ryan Evans – 12 points (11 kills, 1 ace), 2 digs
More information:
Box Scores – http://ccaa.ca/sports/mvball/championship/schedule/mvb2017
Photos – https://www.flickr.com/photos/ccaasportsacsc/albums/72157678128493111
Archived Broadcasts – http://www.falconstv.ca/ccaa-mens-volleyball-championship/