CCAA Gold Medal Match: Capilano Blues 3, Humber Hawks 0

For the first time in school history, the Capilano Blues took home gold at the CCAA Men's Volleyball National Championship, defeating the Humber College Hawks 3-0. 

The last time the Blues reached the national finals was back in 2005, when the tournament was also hosted by the St. Thomas Tommies. 

"Before we left one of our longtime gym staff members mentioned to us that Cap had only been to the national final twice in school history and they lost both times," said third-year outside hitter Jacob Hopkins. "So, getting through yesterday and then getting today we just wanted to put one down in school history."

Coming into the match the Hawks hadn't lost a set since Nov. 23, when they dropped the opening set to the Conestoga Condors. 

"It was a little intimidating coming into it," said fifth-year outside hitter, Ben Friesen about the matchup with Humber. "They are a bunch of big guys; very skilled volleyball players with a lot of power behind their hits. At the same time, we knew our strengths and played to them and adjusted to theirs."

Capilano jumped out to an early lead of 13-7 before Hawks head coach, Wayne Wilkins, called a timeout to try and settle his team. The Blues fought through that, taking the first set 25-15.

It was much of the same in the second with Capilano laying it all on the line, with Hopkins diving into the front row of seats to keep a ball alive before getting back into the play to finish with the kill. The Blues would take the second set 25-18. 

"It was a bad day to have a bad day," said Wilkins after the match. "They did to us what we have done to other teams all year. They put an immense amount of pressure on us and we didn't pass the ball and they did."

The Blues would finish off the match with a 25-19 third set victory to secure their first gold medal. 

Hopkins was named a second team All-Star, while Friesen was named to the first All-Star team. Also joining the first All-Star team was former Hawk, Rafael Hilario. Simon Friesen of Capilano was named Tournament MVP.

Jake Gomes and Joshua Fadare of Humber were named to the first All-Star team, while Bresart Sadiku was named to the second team.

CCAA Semi-Final: Humber Hawks 3, Volontaires de Sherbrooke 0

The Humber Hawks were victorious in their match against Volontaires de Sherbrooke, sweeping them three sets straight. 

Third year setter, Jake Gomes, from the Hawks said that the team's success came from the serving line. "We served tough," said Gomes. 

The Hawks took off with a quick lead over the Volontaires, 15-8 in the first set and wouldn't look back. With several blocks from Humber, they managed to end the set with a score of 25-17. 

The Volontaires switched it up in the second set as Jonathon Portelance put them on the board. However, their lead didn't last, as the Hawks quickly took over, and the Hawks racked their lead to 11-5. The Volontaires managed to push back and cut down the Hawks lead, but not enough to win the set. The Hawks took the set 25-23.

The Hawks continued to push their way ahead in the third set. With an early lead of 5-0, until Zachary Hollands put the Volontaires on the board. 

The Hawks managed to keep their lead with some big blocks, and solid serving throughout the set. The Volontaires again trailed the Hawks for the majority of the set, they managed to trail closely with some game saving blocks and kills. However, Humber took the final set with a score of 25-20. 

Head coach Wayne Wilkins was impressed with the team's performance. 

"Super happy with the guys," Wilkins said. "They're ready and they proved it tonight and I can't wait for tomorrow." 

Zachary Hollands of the Volontaires de Sherbrooke led the charge for his team with 14 kills, and 11 digs. While for the Humber Hawks Rezart Sadiku led his team with 13 kills, and two digs.

CCAA Bronze Quarter-Final: St. Thomas Tommies 3, Durham Lords 1

The St. Thomas Tommies kept their medal hopes alive with a 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 26-24, 25-22) victory over the Durham Lords. 

It is just the third time an ACAA team won a match at Nationals. In 2015, the Tommies defeated the eventual bronze medalists from Niagara College. 

Adam McDougall paced the Tommies in the first set with four kills to lead his team.

The Tommies lost steam in the second set with the Lords coming back strong. Lords outside hitter Rouzbeh Rahnavard turned in a strong performance as well, with fifth-year setter Liam Gray stuffing some monster blocks at the net. 

"Everyone had some great plays, both defensively and offensively, and I think it came down to who executed the little things a little bit better," said McDougall after the match. "Everybody here is the highest of caliber so you have to fight every game to win."

Both teams entered the third set fighting for the win, with eight score ties in this set. Christian Christie, the CCAA All-Canadian from St. Thomas, gave several major kills in this set and ended it with a service ace. 

The fourth and final set was unlike no other with Tommies' Christie and McDougall combining for nine kills as the Tommies took the game 3-1. 

Players of the Game were Rahnavard of the Lords and McDougall for the Tommies. 

The game was once again played without a crowd, which had Tommies' head coach Henri Mallet thankful they were playing the matches. 

"We are lucky to be here, and we are trying to take full advantage of it, and I think we have been pretty successful on that end."

CCAA Quarter-Final: 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.

CCAA Quarter-Final: 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, B.C.) 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, Ont.) and Krabi both finished with seven points.

Championship Website: www.ccaa.ca/sports/mvball/championship/index

Source: CCAA Communications/St. Thomas Tommies