LONDON, Ont. - 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 No. 7-seeded host Falcons upset the No. 3-seeded Mohawk Mountaineers in a five set marathon by scores of 22-25, 25-16, 20-25, 27-25 and 15-12.

CCAA Bronze Quarter-Final #2: Fanshawe Falcons 3, Mohawk Mountaineers 2

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 seven. 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 10 a.m. versus the loser of the Camosun Chargers-Titans de Limoilou match.

Foreman was named the Player of the Game for Fanshawe while McLaughlin was the Player of the Game for the Mountaineers.

Fanshawes Player of the Game: Andre Foreman – 14 points (12 kills, 2 aces), 13 digs
Mohawks Player of the Game: Trevor McLaughlin – 26 points (20 kills, 4 blocks, 2 aces), 7 digs

More information:

Box Scores: ccaa.ca/sports/mvball/championship/schedule/mvb2017

Photos: www.flickr.com/photos/ccaasportsacsc/albums/72157678128493111

Archived Broadcasts: www.falconstv.ca/ccaa-mens-volleyball-championship/

Source: Fanshawe College/CCAA Communications