Falcons are National Bound after Capturing Silver at Provincials

(London, Ontario) – On Saturday evening at Fanshawe College, the Humber Hawks (16-6, 5^th West) won their fourth consecutive OCAA Men's Volleyball Championship over the host Fanshawe Falcons (16-6, 2^nd West) in a five-set thriller.

Hundreds of fans gathered at Fanshawe's Glenn Johnston Athletic Centre and the Falcons were off to a terrific start in the first set. Jack Voght opened with an ace and the Falcons secured a quick 6-3 lead. On the other side, Humber's Maximum Crowder recorded a pair of blocks, contributing to a 4-0 spurt for the Hawks. To give the home team a 17-15 advantage, Daniel Ridings read Humber's setter dump attempt to perfection and recorded his first block of the match. Then, the Humber Hawks took control of the set when Teyven Blackmore executed a monster kill. Humber was triumphant in the first set by a score of 25-20.

The Falcons established themselves early in the second. Third-year Jayden Crowther made a couple of excellent blocks and Fanshawe jumped out to a 7-4 lead. Both teams exchanged points later in the set. Kills by Fanshawe's Zack Admans had the crowd on their feet and Humber's Marcus Morgan's slams would silence the fans. Set two went back and forth until Fanshawe capitalized on a 25-22 victory.

The third set started off as another close one. Alain Pineault crushed a set from Jack Voght to tie the score at nine each. However, the Hawks then went on a massive run, led by Jaskarn Kalsi who recorded three kills. In addition, Josh Nicholson recorded a kill, pushing Humber to a 22-17 lead over Fanshawe. The three-time defending champions closed out the set 25-19 and headed into the fourth set with a 2-1 lead.

With momentum in their favour, Humber came swinging out the gates in set four. Although down 5-1 at one point, Fanshawe fought hard to keep their season alive. Kills by Ridings and an ace from Voght brought the Falcons back into the lead. Later in the set, three consecutive kills from Admans gave the home team a 17-14 advantage and the Falcons seemed to be invincible. They closed out the set with a 25-20 win, forcing a decisive fifth set in the 2024 OCAA Championship match.

Humber had another blazing start in the final set as Morgan, Blackmore, and Kalsi contributed kills in an opening 6-3 run. Leaving it all on the line, the Falcons fought back, scoring four straight points. A Pineault kill pushed Fanshawe to a 7-6 lead, but the Hawks followed with a run of their own. The Falcons could not hold on and the Hawks pulled off a four-peat, winning their fourth consecutive OCAA Men's Volleyball Championship.

Admans was the player of the match for the Fanshawe Falcons. He scored 21 points off of a .432 kill percentage. Admans and Ridings were named Fanshawe's OCAA Tournament All-Stars for their phenomenal play as well as Crowder and Morgan from the Hawks.  Humber's player of the match was awarded to Marcus Morgan who cooked up 21 points and 10 digs. He was also named the OCAA Tournament MVP.

Both teams will now advance to the CCAA Men's Volleyball Championship hosted by Camosun College in Victoria, BC from March 7-10. More information on the event can be found here:

https://ccaa.ca/sports/mvball/championship/index .