(London, Ontario) – On Thursday afternoon, the No. 6 CCAA ranked Fanshawe Women's Volleyball team (19-1, 1st in West) defeated the Mohawk Mountaineers (12-8, 5th in West) 3-1 in their OCAA quarterfinal match. The provincial championship is being hosted by Canadore College in North Bay.
To open the match, Mohawk came out strong and took an early 5-0 lead over the West Division champion Falcons. Fanshawe would chip away and a powerful kill from OCAA Player of the Year Janelle Albert (Brampton, ON) tied the game at 17. Back-to-back service aces from setter Ashley Rafferty (Peace River, AB) gave the Birds the lead and they went on to win set one by a score of 25-22.
The Mountaineers had a hot start again in the second, jumping out to a four point lead. A long rally kept alive by libero Lauren Reycraft (Kitchener, ON) resulted in a Falcons point from Tarea Heshka (Erin, ON). Fanshawe would come back with a brilliant serve from Albert. The teams exchanged slim advantages and late in the set the score was tied at 24. Mohawk would capitalize on the next two points to win the second frame 26-24.
Great defense from both squads in the third set made for exciting rallies. The teams would exchange points until a hit from Kiana Lee (London, ON) started Fanshawe's offense going. Kim Hardy (Melbourne, ON) then had a stuffed block to extend the red and white's lead. The Falcons would claim the third set 25-16.
Fanshawe continued to improve their play as the match went on and were all business in the fourth set. The Falcons displayed excellent passing and scoring skills to conclude the game with a dominant fourth set win 25-11, to take the 3-1 victory. Albert was named the Player of the Match for her performance.
The Falcons now advance to the OCAA semi-final on Friday, where they will face the winner between Algonquin (16-3, 2nd in East) and St. Clair (14-5, 3rd in West) at 6pm. The match can be viewed live on fanshawefalcons.ca/watchlive.