The Humber Hawks men’s volleyball team is off to the championship match, having defeated the Cegep de Sherbrooke Volontaires 3-1 yesterday night.
It was a hard-fought game, with Humber convincingly dominating the first and third sets, but not the other two. The respective set scores were 25-17 for Humber, 18-25 for Sherbrooke, and 25-16 and 25-23 for Humber.
Despite Sherbrooke winning the second set, Humber very quickly began dominating the third set with an early score of 8-3.
Towards the end of the final set, once the score was tied at 18, it see-sawed between a tie and a one-point difference between the two teams until Humber finally won by two points.
Humber players huddle during the semi-final match against the Sherbrooke Volontaires on March 9, 2023. Photo credit: Sam Belton
Humber assistant coach Mack Robertson described the final set as a roller coaster.
“We managed to finish out strong in the end,” Robertson said.
Robertson explained how his team came back following the Volontaires’ victory in the second set. This included rookie outside hitter Gabriel Mendes joining the play.
“We started passing a little bit better,” he said. “They came on strong, they were scoring a lot. Gabe came off the bench, [and] did a great job.
“We managed to squeak it out. It’s a good team on the other side,” he said.
Humber fourth year middle blocker Maximum Crowder also called the finale a roller coaster, and said it was an emotional set of ups and downs.
“It was exciting. It was an emotional roller coaster to say the least. But we knew what we were getting into and we fought hard,” Crowder said.
Crowder rolled his ankle in the first set but persevered to help his team win.
“But I played through it and got a couple kills,” he said.
Crowder is excited and confident about the championship match.
Humber third year left side Safon Manning said the last set was competitive.
“It was a really good set,” he said. “We had great competition and we had to fight back.”
Like his fellow player, Manning is confident that Humber can win the championship.
“We’re pretty confident that we could win and take one more gold,” he said.
Humber middle blocker and rookie Michael McAlpine scored 14 kills and 4 digs, and was awarded the Player of the Match.
Humber men's volleyball middle blocker Michael McAlpine is awarded as the player of the match after his team defeated the Sherbrooke Volontaires on March 9, 2023. Photo credit: Sam Belton
Humber fifth year setter Jake Gomes also had 38 assists and five ace serves. Second year setter Teyven Blackmore had the highest number of digs at six.
In total, Humber got 51 kills, 42 assists, 11 service aces, and 26 digs.
Humber will now face the defending champions, the Camosun Chargers, and compete for the gold medal in the championship match on Saturday at 8 p.m. at North campus.
This is the chance to win their second ever nationals gold medal. Not only that, they have a chance to be the first host team to win a CCAA championship on home turf since 1994.