HAWKS OUTLAST FALCONS AND ADVANCE TO OCAA FINALS
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Fanshawe ( ) | 19 | 25 | 22 | 20 | 1 |
|
Humber ( ) | 25 | 19 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
NORTH BAY, ON: The Humber Hawks women's volleyball team have punched their ticket to the 2016 OCAA Gold Medal game by way of a 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 25-20) semi-final win over the Fanshawe Falcons. The Hawks will play Niagara College on Saturday at 4:00 pm.
By: Natalie Stoberman
The Hawks sealed the deal with another trip to the OCAA finals after a thrilling fight with the Fanshawe Falcons. In the four set battle the Hawks went 25-19, 19-25, 25-22 and 25-20 with Thalia Hanniman as the leading scorer with 13 kills, two blocks and 10 digs, along with eight hefty kills and a team leading four stuff blocks from Alley Newman.
The Falcons were prepared to scratch and claw their way victory. Fanshawe went to work by scoring the opening point to fuel their fire, but it also gave Humber an early wake up call. Humber fought back with 12 kills, with Hanniman swinging for half of those points. The Falcons' defiant offense had the set tied on a few occasions and they drowned out the gym with their bench and their cheering squad. Nevertheless, the Hawks were relentless and turned it on when they needed it most. Middle Elizabeth Deakin-Poot came in clutch with a long service rally late in the match that helped the Hawks pull ahead and take the set 25-19.
Humber had the Falcons shook up but the fight was far from over. Humber's bread and butter of the set was their blocking and kept the Falcons in check for majority of the set. Newman patrolled the net like it was her day job and led the rallies with her defence. But the Falcons found their spark and catapulted a 14-10 lead, leaving Humber with only one option; keep working hard. Outside Devan O'Connor came in with two beauty kills that whizzed by the Fanshawe blockers to pump up Humber's tires. Little by little the Hawks cut down the lead and everyone on the floor had a hand in getting back in the game. Setter Brittany Vanderlaan made the dig of the set that brought Humber within one point at 14-15. Once Deakin-Poot went back to serve Humber's hard began to come to fruition. They tied the set at 16 points apiece and never said die even when the Falcons went back up 21-18. But Fanshawe got the best of them and petty errors on the court and tied the match with a 25-19 win over the Hawks.
For the third time Fanshawe scored the opening points, but the Hawks were fired up and responded with a five point streak of solid blocking and kills from the front line. It was a great start that kept them in charge despite Fanshawe breathing down their necks. Humber closed the gap 13-14 but were backed by solid passing from libero Deborah Mitchell and an explosion of kills from outside Kelsey Kovar. The game was tied at 15 points and Newman and Kovar came up with clutch blocks that slowed down Fanshawe's momentum. Humber built up a 20-16 lead while on Kovar's serve and fought for their lives to take a game changing 2-1 lead in the match with the 25-22 set win.
For the first time all match Humber scored the opening point. It was just what they needed. Newman's blocking was on point and she had another handful of net battles where she came out on top. The Hawks were up 8-5 and were building each other up quicker than Fanshawe's squad could. Humber had a solid lead until they hit a wall that the Falcons capitalized on with a seven point run. Humber was faced with their first deficit of the set and had to work their way out of a 17-13 hole. Fanshawe had the entire atmosphere swirling in their favour but Humber never backed down and retook the lead 20-19 that forced a Fanshawe timeout. Vanderlaan kept Fanshawe honest with her accurate serves and Hanniman played the finisher role with a smashing kill that frustrated the Falcons to no end. Vanderlaan delivered the final blow with an ace that floated and dropped right into the middle of Fanshawe's defence to get to match point. The Hawks clinched the match on a long serve out of bounds for the 25-20 victory and another trip to the finals.
Hanniman took home Player of the Game honours and said that getting over the Fanshawe hurdle is a positive way to prepare for the finals. "They definitely played up and dug a lot of balls and gave us the biggest challenge in the OCAA this season," Hanniman explained. "The win should prepare us better to work under pressure and to work when we're down. I feel like the win has prepared us for what's to come tomorrow."
The championship finals will take place at 4 p.m. against West Division rival the Niagara Knights.
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