(London, Ontario) – On Saturday afternoon, the No. 6 CCAA ranked Fanshawe Women's Volleyball team (18-1, 1st in West) secured their spot at the OCAA Provincial Championship with a 3-0 win over the Loyalist Lancers (5-14, 8th in East) at the Glenn Johnston Athletic Centre.
Two solid left side kills from Tarea Heshka (Erin, ON) got the Falcons out to their first lead of the match. Katie Stewart (Gananoque, ON) had a massive kill of her own to build momentum for Fanshawe. Kim Hardy (Melbourne, ON) made the score 7-3 with a service ace as the home team continued to roll. The Falcons soared to a 25-12 first set victory.
In the second set, the Lancers came out strong, going up 6-2 on Fanshawe. Another hit from Stewart got the Birds back in the game and Skylar Johnston (Hamilton, ON) gave the Falcons a 9-8 advantage. Excellent serving from Maya Danis (Cambridge, ON) extended the lead for the red and white. Despite Loyalist's best efforts, Fanshawe claimed set two by a score of 25-22.
The Falcons came out on fire in set three, jumping out to a 7-0 lead. Lauren Reycraft (Kitchener, ON) opened the scoring, followed by a kill from Heshka. Hardy excited the home crowd with a stuffed block to secure Fanshawe's lead. The Falcons went on to win the match 3-0 on a 25-9 final set win. Stewart led the way with 19 points in the match.
This season, captain Janelle Albert (Brampton, ON) set new Fanshawe Women's Volleyball records for most points in a season (322) and most kills in a season (269) surpassing Kaitlyn Kelly's (2013-14) previous records of 269 points and 222 kills.
The Falcons now advance to the OCAA Provincial Championship at Canadore College in North Bay from February 27-29. They will play Mohawk (12-7, 5th in West) in an OCAA quarterfinal at 1pm on Thursday, February 27.