HUMBER PLAYS FOR NATIONAL MEN'S VOLLEYBALL TITLE

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - The Humber Hawks men's volleyball team, by way of a 3-1 gut wrenching victory over Red Deer College, will now play for national gold on Saturday night.

Humber entered the 2012 CCAA Men's National Volleyball Championship as the No. 1 seed, and showed why on Friday night, as they battled all the way on their way to the four-set win. The scores were 27-25, 24-26, 25-16 and 26-24.

With the win the Hawks will play for gold on Saturday at 10 p.m. ET, against the winner of the Douglas College/Columbia Bible College match.

The first set was a back and forth affair, with the score tied at 21, then 22, and so on. Red Deer did take a 24-23 lead but were unable to hold on. A block by Mack Robertson, followed by a Royals error put Humber up 26-25. Derek Quinn put the game away with an ace.

The second set was more of the same, but with Red Deer up by a point or two throughout. The set looked to be over with the Royals up 24-21, but Andre Brown blocked three straight to bring the Hawks even. Red Deer did respond to take the set, the second in a row finishing in extra points.

The third set was a dominating effort by the Hawks, especially when the score reached double digits. Red Deer did not get within five points, and then saw Humber extend the lead with a big run.

Humber ran out to a big 6-1 lead in the fourth, forcing Red Deer to call a timeout. This strategy worked as the Royals fought back and actually led at the 10-point mark. Red Deer continued to lead, and held this lead into the 20s. With Red Deer leading 22-19, Humber fought back to tie the set at 23. The game then moved to 24-24, forcing another set to be decided in extra points. The Royals player served into the net, then Terrel Bramwell set the tone of the winning point with a rocket serve. Unable to get a real good pass or set the Red Deer offside hitter slapped one wide, giving the Hawks the win.

Four sets, three in extra points and comebacks in all three showed the Humber's team ability to fight all the way and squeak out big wins.

Bramwell led both teams with an incredible 41 kills, and was selected as the Humber Player of the Game.

The gold medal match will be webcast on sportscanada.tv.

Championship Website: www.ccaamensvolleyball2012.ca

Source: Humber College with files from OCAA Communications