The Humber Hawks women’s volleyball team defeated the Sheridan Bruins at home on Thursday night.
Humber convincingly won the first set with a score of 25-12. But the game took a very different turn after that.
The second set was much closer. The Bruins pulled ahead and, at one point, were tied at 25-25, but Humber edged past the finish line 27-25.
“Sheridan played real well in the second set,” Humber women’s volleyball coach Chris Wilkins said. “They should be proud of that set, they made us work for it. They’re a young team over there, but they didn’t give up.
“We played one-dimensional, we were banging balls, we needed to be able to move them around a bit better,” he said.
The third set was just as fierce, with the score remaining close throughout the set. Humber won this set with a score of 26-24, winning the match 3-0.
“We tried to kill every ball, they played real hard against us. This was the last game of the semester and I was trying to give some kids a chance to play,” Wilkins said.
“We know we’re thinking about Christmas and I know this is a trap game where we’re kind of thinking ahead, but we found a way to get through the game,” he said.
At their practice Tuesday night, Wilkins expressed praise and optimism for his team.
Wilkins has been involved with Humber for more than 20 years and the team has won 16 OCAA championships, including last year.
“Right now, we’re number one in Ontario and number two in Canada,” Wilkins said.
“We’re doing quite well. We’ve got a lot of really good veterans, we’ve got some really nice rookies, and we’re pretty excited about our opportunities,” he said at practice.
The team is also headed across the border in December.
“We’re off on Dec. 26 to San Diego to play some of the top teams in Canada. The number one, two, four and eight teams in Canada,” he said.
The team’s players also expressed their enthusiasm at Tuesday’s practice.
Leah Serlin, the left side in her first year on the team, credits the team’s success to their hard work.
“We take practices and games so seriously, it’s a very highly competitive environment. We work for every game that we win and I take a lot of pride in that,” Serlin said.
Keyome Ellis, the team’s middle blocker, feels very connected to her team.
“I love everyone here, everyone has good personalities, and we come together on the court,” Ellis said.
Ellis was very optimistic not only about the game, but about the future of the team in general.
“I’m just excited for the future,” she said. “I expect, hopefully, to win that nationals gold because I feel that when we come together, we are stronger than everyone else.”
Erika Dodd, a left side in her second year on the team, was nervous in her rookie year, but she said the team came together strong.
“I had a great time last year,” Dodd said.
“I achieved a lot personally and as a team we made it on to nationals and came fifth,” she said. “You can’t really go wrong with that. We have a new team this year, lots of rookies, and we’re hoping to make it to that next step at nationals.”