Fanshawe Women’s Volleyball Advances to CCAA National Semi-Final

(London, Ontario) – On Thursday afternoon in their CCAA quarterfinal match, the No. 6 CCAA ranked Fanshawe Women's Volleyball team defeated the No. 5 Red Deer Queens three sets to two. The National Championship is being hosted by Garneau in Quebec City.

In an intense opening set, Kiana Lee (London, ON) sparked the scoring for the birds with a strong hit. The teams traded points throughout but the Falcons found themselves down 24-21 late in the set. Fanshawe then forced three straight errors by the Queens to tie the set at 24. Both teams battled for each point with long rallies, but a huge kill from two-time All-Canadian Janelle Albert (Brampton, ON) gave Fanshawe an advantage. The Birds would go on to win the first set 28-26.

Fanshawe came out strong in set two, as a point from setter Ashley Rafferty (Peace River, AB) gave the Falcons a 13-10 lead. Red Deer would erase the deficit and once again take a lead late in the set. Unfortunately, Fanshawe could not recover and dropped the second frame 25-23. Red Deer brought that momentum into the third set. Back-to-back kills from Albert and Lauren Vahrmeyer (Vineland, ON) generated offense for the Falcons in a bid for a rally. However, the Queens continued to pressure Fanshawe and went on a 6-1 run mid-set to take a 20-14 lead. Red Deer would go on to take the third set 25-22.

A huge block from Tarea Heshka (Erin, ON) opened a 6-0 run for the Falcons in the fourth set to go up 9-4. Fanshawe extended their lead to 20-10 on hits from Lee and Skylar Johnston (Hamilton, ON). Middle Mattea Deleary (Ridgetown, ON) had a nice kill to put the set out of reach, as the Falcons forced a fifth set with a 25-15 fourth frame win.

In the deciding final set, the two teams exchanged points on great rallies. Red Deer went up 8-6 midway through, but the Falcons responded with a kill from Heshka and a service ace by Lee. A tip from Albert maintained Fanshawe's two-point lead and a Rafferty ace made the score 14-11 for match point. The Birds completed the comeback and won the final set 15-11 and the match 3-2. Rafferty was named the Player of the Match for her performance.

The Falcons now advance to the CCAA semi-final on Friday at 6:00pm, where they will face No. 1 nationally ranked Vancouver Island University. Viewers can watch the game live streamed on the CCAA website: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ccaasportsacsc/