Mohawk Mountaineers women's volleyball has advanced to the OCAA gold medal game after defeating the Durham Lords 3-1 (25-15, 19-25, 25-14, 25-21).
The semi-final match saw the Mountaineers not only battle the Lords on the court, but also a very loud home crowd.
"Honestly, we've been fighting for a long-time to get this program some respect and putting in a lot of work on the court, but more as people in challenging adversity and challenging each other to be tough quality humans," head coach Matthew Schnarr said.
Despite coming out strong in the opening set, Mohawk struggled to find their game in the second set.
"I thought we were trying to do too much," Schnarr said.
The coach explained that the team was in control, but one serve receive sequence in the second set made them not believe. Between the second and third sets the discussion was about getting back to keeping the confidence up and playing with pride.
Veteran setter Amanda Kuiper (Woodstock, Ont.) put up 34 assists, six digs and three blocks.
"She was phenomenal today," Schnarr said. "We knew their middles were good and she did a great job exploiting them and making them really work hard to get the opportunities to be successful."
Sofia Spoljar (Hamilton, Ont.) led the Mountaineers with 11 kills.
"We didn't know what we were going to get as a first-year and as one of the youngest athletes, but I mean she played with no fear tonight," Schnarr said.
The coach also credited the bench for stepping up.
"I asked them to keep their eyes up and be supportive, and they did that," Schnarr said. "That's the total team effort that we're going to need (in the gold match)."
Mohawk also received 10 kills and four blocks from right side hitter Julia Watson (Burlington, Ont.).
The Mountaineers will compete in the OCAA championship on March 17 versus the Humber Hawks at 8 p.m. The match will take place at Durham College in Oshawa.
Source: Mohawk Mountaineers
Humber women's volleyball will make their 22nd appearance in the OCAA championship game after defeating the Canadore Panthers (9-2, 2nd East) Wednesday evening, 3-1. The final set scores were 25-15, 25-17, 20-25 and 25-16.
Four Humber players finished the match with double-digit point totals, led by fifth-year middle Aleks Steins who recorded 16 points on eight kills, four aces and four blocks. Erika Dodd put up 14 points on 10 kills, two aces and two blocks. Megan Hunt finished with 12 points on seven kills, three aces and two blocks while Keyome Ellis rounded things out finished with 11 points on seven kills, three aces and one block.
Humber dominated throughout the opening set jumping out to an eight-point lead early forcing a Canadore timeout. The Hawks never let the Panthers back into the set taking a statement first set by 10 points.
The second set was again all Humber as they forced the Panthers into two quick timeouts. The Hawks would lead by as much as eleven in the quarter, with a late Canadore rally resulting in Humber taking the second set by eight points.
The Hawks never get going in the third set as they fell behind early and despite keeping the set close, never retook the lead. The Panthers took the third relatively by five points forcing a fourth set.
The fourth set was tight early on with the sides tied at eight points each. Humber put together a 9-1 run midway through the set, grabbing the momentum. That would prove too much for the Panthers to overcome as Humber coasted through the fourth set to advance to earn their chance at OCAA gold.
Source: Humber Hawks