CCAA National Championship: Dogfights in Hogtown
Mariners to play for a national bronze medal after rebounding from a tough quarterfinal loss with two consecutive victories
TORONTO, ON - Sets have been tight throughout the tournament but VIU Mariners men's volleyball has made its way through to compete for a CCAA national bronze medal on the final day of competition.
Game recaps courtesy the CCAA
Quarterfinal: Volontaires De Sherbrooke 3, VIU 2
March 8, 2023
The final match of the day saw the Volontaires de Sherbrooke rally from down 0-2 to defeat the VIU Mariners in a five set thriller. The set scores were 25-27, 20-25, 26-24, 26-24, and 15-12.
Both sides battled back and forth throughout the first set as neither team was able to establish a run to break things open. The teams remained deadlocked all the way up to match point, with VIU capturing the decisive final two points to win the set.
VIU led wire-to-wire in the second set as Sherbrooke fell behind early and was unable to catch the Mariners who took a commanding, 2-0 set lead.
It was a thrilling third set as the Mariners built an early lead only to have the Volontaires battle back to tie things up at 24. It would be Sherbrooke that would put together the final run this time, taking the set 26-24.
As, was the case all night with these two teams the fourth set went down to the wire again with both teams needing extra points. The Volontaires would capitalize for the second straight set to capture the fourth, tying the match at two sets each.
In the fifth Sherbrooke would fall behind again early to the Mariners, but as was the case all night fought their way back into the set. The Volontaires would go on to complete the comeback to cap off an exciting day one.
Grégoire Mercier-Noël was named the 4imprint Player of the Match for Sherbrooke finishing with 16 kills, six digs, three aces and three blocks. Lucas Torres was named the 4imprint Player of the Match for the Mariners recording 18 kills, four digs, two blocks and one ace.
Bronze Quarterfinal: VIU Mariners 3, Sainte-Anne Dragons 1
March 9, 2023
The VIU Mariners picked up a hard-fought victory over the Sainte-Anne Dragons in four sets, (26-24, 25-20, 23-25, 27-25) to advance to the bronze semi-finals.
VIU and Sainte-Anne went back and forth the entire first set as neither team could establish a run to break the game open. The Mariners managed to execute as the set went into extra points to capture a very tight opening set.
The Mariners put together a strong second set putting the Dragons in an early whole, leading to a quick timeout. Dominic Losier was huge for VIU in the second recording seven kills, helping his team take a, 2-0 set lead.
Sainte-Anne responded in the third set, jumping out to an early lead and maintaining it to force a fourth set.
The Dragons fell behind again early in the fourth but fought back tying the set up at 21. The Mariners never let them take the lead however closing out the set in extras to secure the victory.
The 4imprint Player of the Match for VIU was Owen Dyck who put up 44 assists, 10 digs, two kills and one block. Jeremy Bourque was named the 4imprint Player of the Match for Sainte-Anne finishing with 11 kills, two block, two digs and one ace.
Bronze Semifinal: VIU Mariners 3, Fanshawe Falcons 1
March 10, 2023
Photos - Box Score
In the first of two bronze semi-finals on the day, the VIU Mariners defeated the Fanshawe Falcons in four sets (14-25, 25-22, 25-12, 25-18).
The Falcons came out firing in the first on way to a convincing set win. Jayden Crowther was a force for Fanshawe in the set recording six kills and a block.
The second set was a complete reversal as VIU controlled the play from start to finish to tie things up at one set each. Rylan Van Kooten led his team with four kills in the second set.
The Mariners once again took control of the third set, opening up with a 5-0 run to force a timeout. That would prove too much for the Falcons to overcome as they dropped the third.
The fourth was tight early on, but a 12-4 run for VIU in the middle stages blew the set open. The Mariners kept their foot on the gas closing out the set on way to advancing to the bronze medal game.
Rylan Van Kooten was named the 4imprint Player of the Match for VIU finishing with eight kills, seven digs, one ace and one block. Jayden Crowther was named the 4imprint Player of the Match for Fanshawe recording 13 kill two digs, one assists and one block. Sebastion Lethbridge of the Fanshawe Falcons was named a first-team tournament all-star after the game.