No. 3 Women's Volleyball cruises to win over Redeemer, 3-1

By: Fernando Bossoes
Humber Athletics Communications

ETOBICOKE – No. 3 Humber women's volleyball (9-0, 1st West) rolled past the Redeemer Royals (5-5, 6th West) in four sets (25-11, 23-25, 25-12, 25-15) on Saturday afternoon at the Hawks' Nest. Keyome Ellis led the Hawks offensively with a season-high 13 kills, while Erika Dodd finished with a double-double, recording ten kills and 15 digs.

Match Recap

Humber was back at its home court for a clash against the Redeemer Royals. The home crowd eagerly welcomed the defending provincial champions, who were back at the Hawks' Nest for the first time in two weeks.

Humber did not waste any time to show the Royals how the Hawks flew high at its home court; a strong start would force Redeemer to call a timeout after a 5-0 run. The timeout, though, would not influence the game, as the Hawks would return with two feet on the gas to go up 12-0. Fourth-year Leah Serlin was locked in from the start, as she would only be removed from the serving position after 13 points. The Hawks would keep firing to jump ahead by 16 points to their largest lead before capturing a demanding 25-11 set win.

The crowd saw a contested clash between the two teams early in the second set. The Hawks and the Royals were dialled in offensively, going neck and neck on points. Te-Anna Stephenson would smash a hard-driven spike to finally put the Hawks in the lead for the first time in the second, as the score read 10-9. However, no team could get ahead by many points, as they traded numbers for most of the set. The Royals would make a late push to jump ahead by three points and be one away from grabbing the set. The Hawks would step closer, but Redeemer would close the set after Humber dropped a serve, 25-23.

The Hawks knew they had to bring the performance from the first to stay alive in this game. Humber commanded the floor, pushing strong to an early 12-5 run. The Hawks would keep their significant momentum after Keyome Ellis and Karolina Urbanovich spiked twice to give the lead for good for the defending provincial champions. Cassidy Andrews would wrap up the set for the Hawks with a commanding 25-12 set victory.

Humber was back for the fourth set, looking to stay in the driver's seat and remain undefeatable in the season. The Royals, though, looking to stay alive, would keep a back-and-forth clash early in the game. The Hawks would jump ahead by four points after setter Sidney Ferguson landed an ace down the floor, forcing Redeemer to call a timeout to bring their team together. They would trim the lead down to two, but Humber was unstoppable, with Keyome Ellis and Erika Dodd leading the Hawks offensively with four spikes each in the last set.

Humber would capture a decisive 25-15 final set win to defeat the Redeemer Royals and remain undefeatable in the season, extending their win streak to nine.

Leah Serlin was named the Hawks Player of the Game, grabbing nine kills, four aces and three digs.

Humber Highlights 

• The Hawks improve to 34-1 all-time against Redeemer.
• Erika Dodd recorded her second career double-double.
• Humber remains the only undefeated team in the conference.

What's Next?

No. 3 Humber will stay home for the next match, facing the Niagara Knights (5-3, 5th West) on Nov. 30 at the Hawks Nest. The clash is set to start at 6 p.m. and will be streamed live on the Hawks Sports Network.