LONDON, Ont. - The Fanshawe men's volleyball team (9-3) defeated the St. Clair Saints (7-6) in a fantastic five-set thriller (25-20, 21-25, 25-13, 23-25, 15-11). The Falcons are currently third in the OCAA West Division and are ranked eighth in the CCAA national rankings.

Fanshawe came out on fire, jumping out to an 8-4 lead and forcing an early timeout by the Saints. After being down 13-6, the Saints made a run of their own and found themselves only down by three. With Kyle Weber back to serve, the Falcons scored six straight and opened up a 19-10 advantage. St. Clair closed the gap again but Fanshawe held on to win the first set 25-20.

Josh Lynch took over the second set, running a great offence for the Saints. St. Clair found itself up 13-4 and Fanshawe had to use its second and final timeout of the set. The Falcons turned it on and were within four until Lynch again took over, this time from the service line, putting the Saints up for good. St. Clair went on to win the set 25-21.

No team led by more than one in the third set until Fanshawe went on a 6-0 run to take a 15-9 lead. The Falcons pulled away finishing the game on an impressive 16-4 run. Fanshawe's Mathieu Poulin was doing it all with four kills, a block, an ace and five digs alone in the set.

Just like in the third set, no team led by more than three, with Fanshawe having the largest advantage in the game at 13-10. After a Fanshawe missed serve, the Saints put up three straight stuff blocks, giving them the 14-13 lead and forcing Fanshawe to take a timeout. The teams went back and forth but Fanshawe could never retake the lead and the Saints won the set 25-23, forcing a fifth and deciding set.

The fifth set was close and with the game tied at nine, Fanshawe's Derek Braun went back to serve. The Saints had trouble passing his float serve which turned into points for the Falcons.  Fanshawe went on to win the set 15-11.

Fanshawe plays at home again during Falcons Fest this Saturday, Jan. 25 at 4 p.m. versus the No. 6 CCAA nationally-ranked Niagara Knights (11-2).

Source: Fanshawe College