Following a fantastic week of play to finish off the regular season, all eight teams that will be competing for the OCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship have officially been determined. The Championships are slated for February 22-24 at Georgian College.

First place teams the Algonquin Thunder (East), Seneca Sting (Central East), Niagara Knights (West) and Mohawk Mountaineers (Central West) all received automatic byes to the championships after winning their respective regions at the close of the season.

This past weekend played host to four play-off matches with qualifying teams fighting for a chance to advance to the OCAA Championships. If the Provincial Championships reflect anything like the competitiveness displayed from this past weekend’s playoffs then we’re in for an amazing display of grit and determination.

In the one of the most exciting match-ups of the year, the Redeemer Royals qualified for the OCAA Championships after a 3-2 comeback win over the Durham Lords. After storming out to a 2-0 lead, Durham let Redeemer back in the game by dropping the next two sets, the third set coming in extra points. At this point of the match the Royals could not be stopped as they had momentum on their side. Redeemer dominated the fifth and deciding set shutting the home team down. Set Scores were 15-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-18, 15-8. The Royals attack was led by rookie sensation Ryan Talsma, recording 16 points (12 kills, 3 blocks, 1 ace).

Out of the West region joining Redeemer and Niagara at the Championships will be the Fanshawe Falcons. Fanshawe sent the championship host college packing with a 3-0 sweep over the Georgian Grizzlies (25-23, 25-22, 25-16). Fanshawe look poised for most of the game scoring at key times during the course of the match. Fanshawe’s consistent scoring duo of Ted Bowcock and Rob Thorpe were at it again as they scored 13 and 12 points respectively. The Grizzlies struggled to find a “go-to-guy” as none of their players reached double digits in scoring.

In a repeat of their crossover match last season, the Central West Humber Hawks eliminated the East region Loyalist Lancers in straight sets. Set scores were 25-16, 26-19, 25-23. Despite their 9-4 record, the Lancers headed into the match stumbling losing two of their last four games of the regular season. Unable to shake off the rust, Lancer fans went home disappointed as the 5-7 Hawks came out on top earning a berth into the Championships. Humber’s Stephen Eichhorn led the Hawks offensive attack with 18 points in total offence while Loyalist failed to have a player reach double digits in scoring.

Joining Mohawk and Humber from the Central West will be the Nipissing Lakers after they defeated the Trent Excalibur 3-1. The Excalibur jumped out to a quick start winning the first set, but the Lakers clawed back to sweep the next three sets to take to game. Set scores were 22-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-16. This victory marked the second straight year where Nipissing needed to come from behind to qualify for the Championships. The Excalibur had trouble shutting down veteran Eric Yung as he scored 22 total points leading the Lakers to the win. Ryan Coghlin of Trent scored a team-high 11 points in the loss.

Here are the seeds for this week’s championship:
1. Algonquin
2. Mohawk
3. Niagara
4. Fanshawe
5. Redeemer
6. Nipissing
7. Seneca
8. Humber