Day Two

No. 5 St. Thomas Tommies vs. No. 7 Titans de Limoilou - Semifinal #1

Les Titans de Limoilou are the beasts of the east.

For the first time since 2010 when they won it all they are back in the CCAA men’s volleyball national final. In the first of two semifinals les Titans defeated the St. Thomas Tommies in four sets (21-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-17).

The Tommies, fresh off their historic quarterfinal win, came out swinging. They jumped out to an early lead and held on for a 25-21 first set win.

From that point on it was all Titans as they handed the ACAA champions their first loss of the season.

St. Thomas had no answer for the RSEQ champions as slowly dissected the Tommies’ defence. After dropping the first, they cruised to take the next three and book their ticket into tomorrow’s finale.

Fourth-year outside hitter Ivan Reka had a monster of a game for the Titans, racking two aces, seven digs and 13 kills, many of which came with an exclamation point.

It was setter Ludovic Baril, however, who received player of the game honours for les Titans, amassing a whopping 54 assists and chipping in four aces and five digs.

ACAA player of the year Jason Cannon was player of the game for the Tommies with 11 kills.

Les Titans advance to tomorrow’s 8 p.m. final where they will play the winner of the Camosun Chargers and the Red Deer Kings. The Tommies will play the St. Clair Saints in the bronze semifinal at 10 a.m.

No. 1 Camosun Chargers vs. No. 4 Red Deer Kings - Semifinal #2

The Red Deer Kings will not repeat as CCAA champions.

The second semifinal of Semifinal Friday saw the Camosun Chargers outlast the Red Deer Kings in the first five set thriller of the tournament (14-25, 25-22, 30-28, 13-25, 15-13).

No one led by more than two points in the fifth set and it was the Chargers who reached 15 first, despite missing four serves in the crucial set.

Cameron Fennama was electric for the Chargers, especially in the fifth set, totalling 23 kills in the match to earn him player of the game honours for Camosun.

The second and third sets went the distance for the Victoria squad, seeing point for point action the whole way. The third set went deep into extra points with the Chargers eventually coming out on top 30-28. Red Deer will shake their heads looking back at this set as they failed to convert on four set point opportunities.

Red Deer looked like they were going to run away with this one, rolling to a decisive 25-14 first set win. The Kings suffered a huge blow, however, as fifth-year veteran Tim Finnigan, who was player of the game yesterday, aggravated a leg injury and was unable to return.

Red Deer responded to Camosun’s second and third set wins with a statement 25-13 fourth set win to force a fifth and deciding set.

Fourth-year right-side Nic Dubinsky stepped up in Finnigan’s absence with 32 kills. He was Red Deer’s player of the game for his efforts.

It was a battle of stellar international setters with Melbourne, Australia native Luke Brisbane amassing 54 assists for Red Deer and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil native Vitor De Lima Macedo amassing 54 of his own.

The Camosun Chargers advance to tomorrow’s 8 p.m. finale against les Titans de Limoilou.

The Red Deer Kings will have to turn their attention to bronze as they play the bronze semifinal against the Niagara Knights at 12 p.m.

No. 2 Augustana Vikings vs. No. 3 Niagara Knights - Bronze Quarterfinal #1

We thought they would meet under different circumstances.

It was another battle of conference champions as the Niagara Knights downed the Augustana Vikings in a tight four set battle (26-24, 26-24, 23-25, 25-20).

Both teams were penciled into Friday’s semifinal but instead they met in the bronze quarterfinal.

Player of the game for Niagara was outside hitter Jeff Scott who recorded 15 kills, three block assists and four digs. Middle Jordan Gardiner got the nod for Augustana with eight kills and 3 aces.

Niagara will move on to tomorrow’s bronze semifinal against the loser of the Camosun Chargers and the Red Deer Kings. That game will go at 12 p.m.

Augustana, still without star player Luke Ryan who injured his ankle in the warmups of yesterday’s quarterfinal will try to avoid last place when they face off against the hosting Holland Hurricanes at 2 p.m.

#5 St. Clair Saints Vs. #8 Holland Hurricanes - Bronze Quarterfinal #2

The Hurricanes aren’t going to go down without a fight.

The hosting Holland Hurricanes won their first set of the tournament but it was the St. Clair Saints who came away with a four-set victory (21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-19).

They may not have won a match yet but the Holland Hurricanes are proving they belong. Backed by their home fans they are playing some of the strongest volleyball of their season.

First-year outside hitter Darcie Handrahan was instrumental in Holland’s first set win and was given play of the game honours for the Hurricanes. 

All-Canadian and OCAA player of the year Jason Hernandez was player of the game for the Saints. Hernandez will be looking to win a bronze medal in his fifth and final year.

The Saints will play the loser of tonight’s St. Thomas Tommies and les Titans de Limoilou semifinal tomorrow at 10 a.m.

The Hurricanes will close out their season tomorrow at 2 p.m. against the ACAC champion Augustana Vikings as they try to avoid last place.

*All times AST