(London, Ontario) – At Fanshawe College on Saturday evening, the Humber Hawks (17-5, 2nd West) were crowned the OCAA men's volleyball provincial champions after a 3-1 win over the host Fanshawe Falcons (18-3, 1st West).
In front of a sold out crowd at Fanshawe's Glenn Johnston Athletic Centre, the Falcons got off to a great start with kills from Tanner Paterson and Daniel Ridings. Humber's defense then got settled in with a block by Jaskarn Kalsi. The Hawks had a pair of strong hits from Teyven Blackmore to take the lead and Humber would hold on to win the opening set 25-21. Fanshawe rebounded in the second set, taking a lead on a service ace by fifth-year captain Sebastian Lethbridge. Consecutive kills from Humber's Maximum Crowder kept the Hawks within reach, but Jack Voght responded with a right-side kill to keep the Falcons on top. Ridings completed the kill to give the Birds a 25-23 second set win.
Humber's Jaydon Milne and Michael McAlpine came to play in the third frame, giving the Hawks a quick advantage. Despite Fanshawe's efforts at a comeback, Humber maintained their lead throughout the set and won 25-22. In a thrilling fourth set, both teams had strong attacks from their key players. The Falcons gained an advantage with a kill from Alain Pineault mid-way through the frame, but Humber would stick around with Jake Gomes setting up Milne for the kill. With the set tied at 21, Kalsi had massive back-to-back hits to put the Hawks ahead. Humber would hold on and complete the fourth set victory 25-23 to take the gold medal match 3-1. The player of the match for Humber was Kalsi with 15 points and Ridings for the Falcons with 13 points. Fanshawe's Lethbridge and Voght were named OCAA Tournament All-Stars for their strong weekend performances, as well as Crowder and Blackmore from the Hawks. Humber setter, Gomes, was named the OCAA Tournament MVP.
Both teams will now advance to the CCAA men's volleyball national championship from March 8-11, hosted by Humber College in Etobicoke. More information on the event can be found here: https://ccaa.ca/sports/mvball/index .
All news, stats and results can be found on the 2023 OCAA championship website: www.ocaa.com/mvb.
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