The first place Humber Hawks will fly into the Conestoga College Athletic Centre on Wednesday night for the second round of the "Battle of the Birds" between these two schools.

Humber swept its way to victory in their first meeting, which kicked off the 2012-13 regular season. On this night the match was never in doubt, as the five-time defending provincial champion Hawk squad won by scores of 25-18, 25-14, 25-14.

Since that opening day loss, the Condors have been more than respectable as they recorded four wins in their next 10 games. They boosted their record to 4-7 on the season by way of a 3-0 win over St. Clair this past weekend.

Humber has continued to be the leagues dominant force, as they check in with an undefeated record of 11-0. They have only lost two sets all season, but avenged those set losses this past week, defeating Fanshawe comfortably in three straight sets. This battle with the London team was one that pitted the two best teams in the division, based on league record.

Conestoga is led statistically by a pair of solid players. Ariel Brown-Berkeley checks in with a point per set average of 2.8, and is also the teams kill leader, with 75. Leanne Sinclair is not far behind in both kills and points, as she has recorded 72 kills and an average of 2.3 PPS.

The Hawks Kelly Nyhoff, a member of Team Canada's B team and last year's OCAA player of the year, is in a neck and neck battle for the OCAA scoring title. Nyhof has clocked a terrific rate of 5.0 PPS, and is closing in on 100 kills for the season. She also kicks in 13 service aces and a staggering 24 stuff blocks. Five Hawk players join in on the Hawk scoring parade, as they all have offensive numbers above the 2.0 PPS mark.

Based on last week's rankings, the Humber team is No. 1 in the province, a ranking they have held onto all season. Nationally, they sit at No. 5, but with a solid showing this past week that included a win against the nation's No. 10 team, should propel them higher as the new rankings are published on Tuesday.

The Hawks will not return to the friendly confines on the Humber Athletic Centre until Thursday, January 24, as they entertain Hamilton's Mohawk Mountaineers.

Source: Humber College