THE STREAK: WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL WINS 100 STRAIGHT
ETOBICOKE, ON: In five years, not much has changed for the Humber women's volleyball team in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association.
They're still a dominating force.
The CCAA's third-ranked Hawks extended the nation's longest consecutive conference win streak to 100 matches after Sunday's 3-0 win over the St. Clair Saints. The last match Humber lost in OCAA play was a 3-0 decision to Nipissing University in their last road match of 2011. Since that loss, the Hawks have a perfect 85-0 regular season and 15-0 postseason record.
For the most dominant program in OCAA volleyball history, it seemed liked attaining this rare accomplishment was only a matter of time. Whispers of the milestone had been swirling around campus for weeks, yet everyone knew it was in the program's best interest to tip-toe around the subject.
"It is kind of like talking to a pitcher during a no-hitter," said Humber's manager of athletics Jim Bialek, who is in his 37th year with the department. "No one wants to be blamed for putting a jinx on the Streak."
Like he has done throughout his Hall of Fame career, Hawks head coach Chris Wilkins stayed true to form and remained extremely modest when addressing the large home crowd at the conclusion of the match. The 2009 CCAA Coach of the Year thanked everyone he could think of – the fans, his student-athletes, and every department within Humber athletics – never once taking any credit of his own.
Since becoming the head coach in 2002, Wilkins has amassed an inconceivable 220-09 regular season and 38-3 postseason record. Under his command, the Hawks have won 13 consecutive OCAA medals, including ten provincial championships.
"We've said all along that our success is a direct result of the talent we've had come through this program," said Coach Wilkins.
Over the course of the Streak, 48 student-athletes have played for Coach Wilkins, with 14 OCAA First-Team All-Stars and five CCAA All-Canadians. Ten student-athletes have played at least three seasons since 2011, however none have played more than perennial all-star Thalia Hanniman. The Pembroke native became a Hawk when the Streak was only four matches deep and of the 85 regular season wins, Hanniman has played in 76. The reigning CCAA All-Canadian is joined by teammate Deborah Mitchell (Scarborough) as the only active Hawks with four OCAA gold medals.
In the span of 1,807 days, the Streak was rarely in jeopardy of ending, with only seven matches reaching five-sets. Less than a year after the Streak began, Nipissing once again proved to be a difficult challenge for Humber. Nipissing took the Hawks to the wire, back-and-forth right to the fifth set; however Humber was able to pull out the win – 25-18, 23-25, 15-25, 25-23, 16-14.
At the conclusion of Sunday's match, a look of relief could be seen across the faces of Humber's coaching staff.
"It felt great to accomplish," said assistant coach Dean Wylie. "Now we can put it behind us and focus on defending our provincial title."
Sunday's victory was also the defending OCAA champions 86th consecutive regular-season win at the Humber Athletic Centre, a streak that has almost stretched a full decade. Ironically, the loss was also to Nipissing University, a 3-1 defeat back in February of 2007.
Below is a list of every player and coach for the women's volleyball team during the Streak:
|
Player |
Season(s) |
Coaching Staff |
|
|
Thalia Hanniman |
5 |
Chris Wilkins |
|
|
Deborah Mitchell |
5 |
Dean Wylie |
|
|
Kelly Nyhof |
4 |
Rachel Dubbeldam |
|
|
Carley Uden |
4 |
Heather Longland |
|
|
4 |
Taylor Hutchinson |
||
|
4 |
Mandi Doris |
||
|
Taylor Hutchinson |
3 |
||
|
Nina Carino |
3 |
||
|
Laura Bye |
3 |
||
|
3 |
|||
|
3 |
|||
|
Victoria Clarke |
2 |
||
|
Teresa George |
2 |
||
|
Roshanna Matthews |
2 |
||
|
Michelle Overzet |
2 |
||
|
Mackenzie Prins |
2 |
||
|
Lise Hyatt |
2 |
||
|
Lindsay Balance |
2 |
||
|
2 |
|||
|
2 |
|||
|
2 |
|||
|
Hayli Moore |
2 |
||
|
2 |
|||
|
Danielle Jones |
2 |
||
|
2 |
|||
|
2 |
|||
|
2 |
|||
|
Adela Xhameta |
2 |
||
|
Teresa Valiquette |
1 |
||
|
Rebecca Sobie |
1 |
||
|
Naomi Fukudome |
1 |
||
|
Nancy Joseph |
1 |
||
|
Meghan Hering |
1 |
||
|
Marianna Strutt |
1 |
||
|
Maja Jocson |
1 |
||
|
Landis Doyle |
1 |
||
|
Lainna Buch |
1 |
||
|
Kris Dowling |
1 |
||
|
Kirsten Timmermans |
1 |
||
|
Kaya Jasinski |
1 |
||
|
Jolande Amoraal |
1 |
||
|
Jessica Turlainski |
1 |
||
|
Jane Baerg |
1 |
||
|
Elise Hanson |
1 |
||
|
Diana Smith |
1 |
||
|
1 |
|||
|
Conchita Humphreys |
1 |
||
|
Carrie Anderson |
1 |
