HAWKS OPEN 2018 CCAA NATIONALS ON THURSDAY VS GARNEAU (QC)
GRANDE PRAIRIE, AL: The Humber Hawks, winners of eleven straight OCAA Provincial titles, will look to parlay this success on the national stage this coming week in Grande Prairie, Alberta. The team has already departed, and will participate in a number of pre-tournament events prior to their opener on Thursday night.
THE MATCH-UP
Elans de Garneau (RSEQ) – B3 vs Humber Hawks (OCAA) – B2
8-10 regular / 2-1 playoff 20-0 regular / 4-0 playoff
5th RSEQ 1st, OCAA West
Thursday, March 8/18
8:00 pm (EST)
GPRC Athletic Centre
LAST TIME OUT AT NATIONALS
Humber, after grabbing their first podium finish ever the year before, was unable to find any momentum after a gut-wrenching 5-set opening day lost to the hosts and went winless in the 2017 championship event. Garneau, perennial national medalists, but have not won gold since 2006, did not qualify for the championships last year. The prior two years they lost in the final.
LAST TIME OUT VS EACH OTHER
The two teams did square off over the holiday break in a match held in San Diego. Although this was just an exhibition game as part of a week-long training session for both teams, Humber came out on top in this one
SCOUTING GARNEAU
- The Élans (8-10) eliminated top-seeded Édouard-Montpetit (11-7) in the conference semi-finals before falling to André-Laurendeau in the RSEQ Championship final
- Garneau has 18 career medals at CCAA Women's Volleyball Nationals
- They finished fourth in the regular season standings
- Mariane Boulanger leads the team with a mark of 2.87 points per set. Laurence Flamand and Beatrice Morin slide in closely behind, at 2.85 and 2.75 pps, respectively
- The Elans are extremely well coached, as evidenced by their yearly success provincially and nationally
HAWK NOTES
- Humber just completed another perfect season at 22-0, and now have a 152 game winning streak in OCAA league and playoff play
- Second-year sensation Breanna Golding will be receiving her first CCAA All-Canadian award at the championship awards banquet
- Golding led the team in scoring with a mark of 4.4 points per set. This mark was tops in the West Division, and second overall in the league
- Jasmine Lougheed (3.1 pps), Brynne Coleman (2.9 pps) and Devan O'Connor (2.8 pps) provided a valuable support group for the offence
- Alex Bartman and Celine Blanchette share the setting duties, and both were key in the Hawks winning OCAA gold
- Kyla Wilkins, a fifth-year libero, was recognized as an all-star in both league and championship play
- Head Coach Chris Wilkins is the winningest coach in Humber history, and his record sits at 339-41, an incredible winning percentage of .892
