The gold medal final is set after Day 2 of the CCAA Women’s Volleyball Nationals with defending champions Red Deer College Queens playing Elans de Garneau in the final. Red Deer looks to be the first repeat champions since UBCO won back to back titles in 2009 & 2010. Garneau will look for a spark in their home province. The last time the province of Quebec won a CCAA championship was in 2006. That ended a 22 year run from 1985-2006 where a FQSE school claimed gold. The Bronze medal is 2 wins away for all teams as Grande Prairie and VIU join the Bronze Medal bracket.   

The Humber Hawks regained their form on Day 2 with a convincing win over Mount Saint Vincent University. The Hawks won 3-0 25-11, 25-10, 25-14. Thalia Hanniman had another strong day being named player of the game wlead a stead defence for the Hawks with 16 digs. ACAA Player of the Year Meaghan MacDougall was named player of the game for the Mystics. Jaylene Fraser lead the team with 5 kills, 2 blocks, and 6 digs. 

Humber advances to play Grande Prairie in the Bronze Medal Semi Final at 10am. 

In the other Bronze Medal Quarter Final the Camosun Chargers defeated the host Édouard-Montpetit’s Lynx.  Édouard-Montpetit jumped to an early 2-0 lead 25-9 and 28-26. The Chargers didn’t pack it in after a tough second set loss. They won a barn burner 3rd set 37-35. They carried that play into the 4th and 5th winning the match 25-19 and 15-12. Players of the Game were setter Erika Sheen for the Chargers and libero Marilou Marchessault for the Lynx. Hilary Graham lead the Chargers with 16 kills, 1 block, 1 ace, and 7 digs. Maude Babin was impressive for the Lynx with 15 kills, 1 block, 1 ace, and 10 digs. 

MSVU will play the host Édouard-Montpetit’s Lynx in a 7-8 match up for final rankings. Camosun moves onto the Bronze Medal Semi’s versus VIU.

Elans de Garneau will play for Gold Saturday night after an impressive win over VIU. The Mariners won the first set 25-17. After that it was all Garneau taking the next 3 sets 25-16, 25-19, 25-21. Noeme Daigneault and Myriam Adam controlled the offence for Garneau with 13 kills and 10 kills respectfully.     Evy Carpentier had 18 digs in the victory. VIU’s normally high powered offence was slowed down with no player reaching over 10 kills in the match. Tylar Turnbull had a good match with 7 kills, 6 blocks, and 3 digs. It’s a quick turn around as VIU meets PACWEST Rival Camosun in the Bronze Medal Semi Final at 10am.  

Grande Prairie showed they were prepared for battle winning the first set 27-25. Unfortunately that was as close as they would come falling the next 3 sets 25-19, 25-23, 25-15. The game changer may have been when the Wolves lead 10-2 in the 3rd set only to let it slip away 25-23. Amy Norman was named Player of the Game for the Wolves with 13 kills, and 6 blocks. Leah Koot had an outstanding game for the Queens with 13 kills, 1 ace, and 12 digs. Alex Donaghy chipped in with 12 kills, 4 blocks, and 1 ace. 

Red Deer is definitely the team to beat this year. Elans de Garneau will need to continue to play lights out defence and serve tough to create a match up in their favour. Hopefully their fans show up to support them in their quest for a Gold Medal. 4 teams will have to earn the bronze medal as they are 2 wins away. It will be an exciting finish to the 2015 CCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championships. Catch the action online at our Championship Homepage.