HUMBER 3, FANSHAWE 0

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – The Humber Hawks will have the chance to add a sixth consecutive championship title to their record after defeating the Fanshawe Falcons in three straight sets in the second semi-final game at the 2013 OCAA Women's Volleyball Championship 26-24, 25-14, 25-23.

The final matchup of the day featured some amazing volleyball as Humber took a close 26-24 set victory to start things off. In the second set, Humber showed why they are the top seeded team in the tournament by rolling to a 25-14 win and taking a 2-0 lead in the match. In the third set, both teams came out firing again as they put on an exciting display of volleyball for the fans. Both teams claimed the lead at multiple points but Humber eventually came out on top with a 25-23 win and took the match in three straight.

The first set began with Fanshawe jumping out to a 3-0 lead before Humber evened things up at 8-8. Fanshawe got some great serving from Shelby Charlton (Strathroy, Ont.) creating a 13-9 lead but Humber battled back tying things up at 16-16 and took their first lead of the set at 17-16 forcing Fanshawe to call a timeout. Following the Falcon timeout, Fanshawe reclaimed the lead at 18-17 but could not hold on as Humber went up 20-18 late in the set. Fanshawe made a final push squaring up the score at 24-24 but Humber held on for a tight 26-24 victory on a big kill from Kelly Nyhof (Georgetown, Ont.).

The second set started with Humber getting out to a 5-0 lead with some tough serving from Thalia Hanniman (Pembroke, Ont.). The Hawks continued their relentless offensive attack pushing the score to 8-1 and forcing a Fanshawe timeout. After the timeout, Humber continued to push the pace as the extended their lead again to 12-2. The Falcons tried to stay in the set narrowing Humber's lead to 13-7 at the midway point but the Hawks would not let up as they once again widened the lead to 20-9 late in the set. Humber concluded the set at 25-14 with a kill from Deborah Mitchell (Scarborough, Ont.).

In the third set, Humber started strong again as they took 7-2 lead early with Hayli Moore (Cobourg, Ont.) providing some great serving. Fanshawe fought their way back into the set narrowing the Humber lead to 12-10 as they forced the Hawks to take a timeout. Following the timeout, both teams exchanged points up to 18-16 until Fanshawe evened up the set at 19-19. The Falcons continued with their great defensive play as they took their first lead of the set pushing the score to 22-19 and getting Humber to take their final timeout. After the timeout, Humber closed the gap at 22-22 and reclaimed the lead taking the set 25-23.

Player of the Game for the Humber Hawks was libero Laura Bye (Burlington, Ont.) with eight digs on the night. Claiming top player honours for Fanshawe was libero Melanie Griese (Newmarket, Ont.) with 12 digs. Humber will meet Nipissing in the Gold Medal Final Saturday at 4 p.m. The Fanshawe Falcons will battle the Georgian Grizzlies Saturday at 11 a.m. for a spot in the bronze medal game at 2 p.m.

Source: Trent University