MVB: Day One recap from St. Thomas
Match 1: Humber Hawks 3, Holland Hurricanes 0
The Humber Hawks won the first match of the CCAA Championship, 3-0 against the Holland Hurricanes.
An impressive save by Simon Archibald near the net highlighted the Hurricanes efforts in the first set, but Joshua Fadare secured the 25-8 win for the Hawks with two major kills.
Humber’s Rrezart Sadiku set the tone in the second set with several major kills against the Hurricanes. The Hawks took the second set 25-13.
“Throughout the match we tried to keep up our self-confidence and we try to keep [that confidence] throughout all the matches,” said Sadiku. “It doesn’t matter where we play, we put everything out on the floor”.
Cole Mackey and Holland continued to battle in the third blocking several of Humber’s attacks. However the Hawks were relentless, taking the final set 25-15 and the game 3-0.
“Having been in last year’s championship, we are definitely feeling more comfortable, but we have a disciplined and hardworking team,” said Humber’s head coach, Wayne Wilkins, the CCAA Coach of the Year.
Match 2: Volontaires de Sherbrooke 3, Lethbridge Kodiaks 2
In the closest match of the day, the Volontaires de Sherbrooke defeated the Lethbridge Kodiaks 3-2 (25-18, 25-18, 22-25, 23-25, 15-12).
The Volontaires jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to some great serving and tremendous play at the net. The Kodiaks, led by fifth-year left side Michael Hummel, made the necessary adjustments to win the third and fourth sets, forcing a fifth and deciding set.
The final set was a see-saw battle, featuring eight ties before the Volontaires finished the match on a 7-1 run to win the deciding set 15-12.
“It was a very good beginning of the match for us,” said Volontaires head coach, Jérôme Ouellet. “They put a lot of pressure on our receiving team. We managed to get some energy and get the important points at the end. It wasn’t that pretty, but at the end of the day the win is what matters.”
Leading the way for the Kodiaks was Carter Hansen, who had 12 kills and was named Player of the Game. Zachary Hollands, an RSEQ First Team All-Star, finished the game with a game high 18 kills, while adding two aces for Sherbrooke.
Match 3: Red Deer Kings 3, St. Thomas Tommies 0
The Red Deer Kings came away with a 3-0 win over the host St. Thomas Tommies with set scores of 25-13, 27-24 and 25-26.
Spectators were asked to leave the arena minutes before the game started due to precautionary measure from the Chief Medical Officer.
Tommies Head Coach, Henri Mallet said after the game, “its unfortunate for the fans because at the end of the day we wanted to host it to have that crowd and give that type of volleyball to our local fans but once we started playing volleyball on the floor we put that aside and we focus on what we have to do.”
Although the Tommies struggled in the first set, they made an impressive comeback in the second only to fall.
“In the second set [The Kings] started to make a few mistakes that we took advantage of and started playing with them but still a few balls I wish we had back that we had another chance to score some big points and keep moments that we weren’t able to capitalize,” said Mallet.
Melnick held a team high for the Tommies with 10 kills, six digs, and 14 points.
Tommies ACAA Player of the Year and CCAA All-Canadian, Christian Christie (Langley, BC), finished the game with five kills, five digs, and 7.5 pts.
Carter Hills (Legal, AB) and Ben Holmes (Red Deer, AB) both finished the game for the Kings with 10 kills. Hills also had three service aces, five digs, and 14.5 pts. Holmes finished with three digs and 10.5 pts.
Match 4: Capilano Blues 3, Durham Lords 0
The Capilano Blues of the PACWEST came away with a 3-0 victory over the Durham Lords of the OCAA, with set scores of 25-16, 25-19 and 25-18.
Hilario opened the game with a kill to win Capilano the first point of the match. Hilario went of to finish the game with 15 kills, six digs, and 16 points. Jacob Hopkins (Powell River, BC) was also another highlight player for the Blues, finishing with nine kills, four digs, 10 points.
“I think as a player you want to focus on yourselves and bring it as a team and I think we are fortunate to have a loud bench and we got a great team atmosphere to get us engaged,” said Hopkins about the venue being emptied earlier that evening. “So, I think we really just got to into the game ourselves and didn’t need any outside atmosphere.”
Rouzbeh Rahnavard (Richmond Hill, ON) held a team high of 7 kills, 2 dig, and 7 points for the Lords. Tristan Swinden (Whitby, ON) and Krabi both finished with seven points.
