TORONTO - An eventful three days at the 2018 OCAA Women's Volleyball Championship presented by belairdirect at Centennial College, which featured many twists and turns, wrapped up Saturday night in a gold medal showdown between the Niagara Knights and the Humber Hawks.
The gold medal game generated a lot of hype from Hawks and Knights fans but Humber took care of business, winning their 11th straight provincial title, beating Niagara in straight sets (25-22, 25-7, 25-20) at the Athletic and Wellness Centre.
"It never gets old. We always have new girls every year so it's always a new experience," Hawks head coach Chris Wilkins said. "It's an amazing feeling. You never get tired of winning, that's for sure."
The Hawks will now head to Grande Prairie, Alta., to play in nationals. The only medal that Humber has won in the CCAA championship was in 2016, when they won the bronze medal.
"We've got to have a solid effort from beginning to end. Winning a national championship is always tough; you need a little bit of luck, you need to get the right draw, you need to be prepared and ready to work," Wilkins said. "Certainly, with this year's team, we're deeper than we've ever been and we got something special here. We'll be ready for whoever we play in the first round."
Meanwhile, the Knights finished with silver, their third in its program.
Alex Bartman was named Player of the Game for Humber, who had a game-high 29 assists and two aces. Nicole Collard had 12 points on a game-high four blocks while Kyla Wilkins had a game-high 10 digs.
Breanna Golding led all scorers with 13 points on 12 kills and was named Championship MVP.
"She's the best player in the league for a reason," Wilkins said about Golding. "The scary part is that she's not even close to being as good as she's going to be."
Natasha Desjardins was named Niagara's Player of the Game and had seven points. Jordan Koslowski had a team-high eight points while Melissa McFadden had a team-high 20 assists and Ainsleigh Williams had eight digs.
Humber outpaced Niagara in kills (34-23), assists (32-21), digs (29-21) and blocks (8-4).
Both teams battled for the most part of the first set but it was the Knights who forced the Hawks to call timeout as they went up, 15-12. But Humber closed out the first set on a 13-7 run as they took the set, 25-22, after Golding's fifth kill of the set. Desjardins also had five kills in the set for the Knights.
The Hawks then dominated the second set in what was easily their best set of the tournament as they started on a 10-3 run and continued their onslaught, in which the Knights had no answer for. Humber took the second set, 25-7.
"We didn't sit back," Wilkins said. "Today, we just asked the girls to go for it, (play loose), and see what happens."
Determined not to lose in straight sets, the Knights fought tooth and nail with the Hawks and forced a timeout from Humber, going up 17-14 after an ace from Nicole Pirillo. But the Hawks responded with six straight points to take a 20-17 as Niagara forced to burn both of its timeouts.
After an attack error from Golding cut the Hawks lead to 21-20, Humber closed out the gold medal game with four straight points, capped off by a block from Collard, as they took the third set, 25-20, with their fans cheering on.
CHAMPIONSHIP ALL-STARS
Nicole Collard (Middle, Humber Hawks)
Taylor Fitzgerald (Outside Hitter, St. Clair Saints)
Breanna Golding (Outside Hitter, Humber Hawks)
Jordan Koslowski (Outside Hitter, Niagara Knights)
Rachel Rivers (Outside Hitter/Setter, Niagara Knights)
Kyla Wilkins (Libero, Humber Hawks)
CHAMPIONSHIP MVP
Breanna Golding (Outside Hitter, Humber Hawks)
ST. CLAIR COMES ALL THE WAY BACK TO SNATCH BRONZE
A bronze medal was on the line as the final day of the 2018 OCAA Women's Volleyball Championship presented by belairdirect continued with a match-up between the Sheridan Bruins and the St. Clair Saints.
Four points away from losing in the bronze medal game in straight sets, St. Clair rallied back to force a fourth set and a fifth set. This time, though, the Saints completed the comeback as they defeated the Bruins in five sets (20-25, 27-29, 25-22, 25-22, 15-8), winning the bronze medal and a medal overall for the first time in 21 years.
"It feels amazing. I'm so proud of how we battled," Saints head coach Jimmy El-Turk said as he fought back tears. "It would have been so easy for us to give up, not playing well down two sets, but the girls found a way."
Kimberley Quintanilla was masterful today with a game-high six aces and 42 assists and was named St. Clair's Player of the Game. Quintanilla had four aces during the decisive set, including the final point of the match.
"She's been our rock and our best server this season," El-Turk said. "She started off the tournament serving great and for her to serve ace on match point was very fitting."
Te-Anna Stephenson led all scorers with 24 points on a game-high 22 kills while Julie Ann Milling had 12 digs and Jessica Masse had a game-high three blocks.
"For her to be able to contribute the way that she did offensively is amazing and I'm so happy to have her on (our) team," El-Turk said about Stephenson.
Tamia Cooper-Evelyn was named Sheridan's Player of the Game after scoring a team-high 18 points on 13 kills and four aces. Joelle Parnham and Sydney Romans each had a game-high 16 digs while Parnham dished out a team-high 32 assists.
St. Clair outpaced Sheridan in kills (47-37), assists (45-35), digs (72-48), and blocks while the Bruins had a slight edge in aces (15-14).
Sheridan burst out of the gates quickly, scoring five straight points to start off the set and continued to maintain that lead throughout despite Stephenson scoring seven points on six kills during the set alone. The Bruins had five aces during the first set as they took the set, 25-20.
Sheridan continued to control the pace of the game in the second set, as they scored four straight points to break a 5-5 tie, forcing a Saints timeout.
But St. Clair responded, chipping away and eventually using three straight points to tie the set at 14 after a kill from Taylor Fitzgerald, forcing the Bruins to call a timeout of their own. Neither team managed to pull off a set changing run as they split the next 26 total points as the set went to extra points, tied at 27.
But a service error from Chloe Stachow and a kill from Cooper-Evelyn gave Sheridan the second set, 29-27, and a two-set lead for the first time in the tournament.
The Bruins continued to put the pressure on the Saints, as they scored three straight, capped off by a kill and block from Taylor Ley to go up 10-7, forcing St. Clair to call a timeout.
The Saints responded with three straight points after the timeout but Sheridan then went on a 5-0 run, capped off by consecutive aces from Dana Renfrew as El-Turk was forced to use his final timeout.
But the Saints pulled off six straight points, taking advantage of five Bruins errors to tie the set at 18. A kill from Stephenson capped off a 3-0 run as St. Clair forced a fourth set, winning 25-22.
Both teams traded runs early in the fourth set but Sheridan broke the set open with a 9-3 run as St. Clair used both of their timeouts during that span. The Saints, however, came all the way back again to tie the set at 17 after an attack error from Ley.
The Bruins were up 21-19 and were four points away from winning bronze but the Saints forced a fifth set, winning 25-22 after ending the set on a 6-1 run.
Quintanilla's service game was on full display as she hit three straight aces to start off the set and the Saints never looked back as they won the fifth set, 15-8, sending the team and their fans into a frenzy.
"We're on track for our five-year plan here, it helps us with recruiting, and I can see us in the gold medal game within the next couple of seasons," El-Turk said.
MOHAWK WINS CONSOLATION FINAL
The third and final day of the 2018 OCAA Women's Volleyball Championship presented by belairdirect began with an afternoon showdown between the Mohawk Mountaineers and the Fanshawe Falcons.
The Mountaineers continued their dominance since the quarter-finals, dispatching the Falcons in straight sets (25-22, 25-20, 25-22).
With the win, Mohawk finishes the OCAA championship in fifth place while Fanshawe places sixth. The Mountaineers had the edge in kills (38-28), assists (36-28), aces (6-4), blocks (8-5), and digs (37-33).
Danielle Kamps was named Player of the Game for the Mountaineers after scoring a game-high 14 points on 10 kills, an ace and three blocks. Amanda Kuiper had a game-high 34 assists while Kelsey Kovar had nine digs.
Meghan Morelli led the Falcons with 10 points while Tarea Heshka was named Fanshawe's Player of the Game.
Kuiper's service game gave the Mountaineers three straight points to start off the set but Fanshawe came roaring back and went up by as many as three (17-14) as Mattea Deleary had four kills alone during that span. But Mohawk went on an 11-5 run to close out the set as they took the first set, 25-22. Kamps had five kills during that set alone.
Mohawk used a 7-0 run early in the second set to take a 9-1 lead and maintained their lead at 24-17. And although Fanshawe made it interesting with three straight points, the Mountaineers eventually scored the last point to take the second set, 25-20.
Determined not to get swept, Fanshawe took an early lead in the third set, going up 11-8, but Mohawk eventually tied the set and it continued to be tied (20-20).
The Mountaineers scored three in a row, followed by consecutive points from the Falcons as each team burned a timeout. But kills from Lindsay Vanderweide and Jennifer Heidbuurt ended the match as Mohawk took the third set, 25-22.
Source: Centennial College
Championship Website: www.ocaa.com/wvb
Championship Webcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj3xnVFGSlDcN-DNAtt6y7Q
Championship Schedule
Thursday, February 22
Quarter-Finals
Game 1: Niagara 3, Fanshawe 2
Game 2: Sheridan 3, Loyalist 1
Game 3: St. Clair 3, Centennial 1
Game 4: Humber 3, Mohawk 2
Friday, February 23
Consolation Round
Game 5: Fanshawe 3, Loyalist 0
Game 6: Mohawk 3, Centennial 0
Semi-Finals
Game 7: Niagara 3, Sheridan 0
Game 8: Humber 3, St. Clair 1
Saturday, February 24
Consolation Final
Game 9: Mohawk 3, Fanshawe 0
Bronze Medal Match
Game 10: St. Clair 3, Sheridan 2
Gold Medal Match
Game 11: Humber 3, Niagara 0
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