All Four PACWEST Teams Move On

Photo courtesy of Kevin Light

All four PACWEST volleyball won their CCAA nationals quarterfinal on Thursday and move onto the gold medal side of the championship bracket.

MEN

#4 Camosun Chargers vs. #5 Medicine Hat Rattlers

There are impressive comebacks, then there are comebacks featuring the Camosun Chargers.  Following a 25-6 defeat in the second set and dropping a 2-0 in the match to the Medicine Hat Rattlers, the Chargers woke up.

They took the third set 26-24, then battled in the fourth set to win 25-20, setting up a sudden death fifth set, which they claimed 15-13 for the improbable comeback victory.

Hakon Ostrem was named Player of the Match with 19 kills, five digs and an ace and Savana Walkingbear chipped in with 13 kills.

They will now face the Titans de Limoilou in the Championship Semi-Final on Friday at 3:00pm PST.

#6 VIU Mariners vs. #3 Mohawk Mountaineers

The sixth seeded VIU Mariners blew past the Mohawk Mountaineers to join the Chargers on the Championship side of the bracket; 25-22, 25-21 and 25-23.

Braydon Brouwer had a massive match with 10 kills, an ace and three digs.   Zach Grigg chipped in with six kills, two aces and four digs.

The Mariners will now face the always dangerous Red Deer Kings on Friday at 5:00pm PST.

WOMEN

#1 VIU Mariners vs. #8 Cavalier Bois-de-Boulogne

The top seeded VIU Mariners picked up right where they left off in the PACWEST playoffs with a three-set victory over the Cavaliers Bois-de-Boulogne, 25-18, 25-21 and 25-19 to open the CCAA women’s national championship.

“It feels nice to get it over with,” said Mariners head coach Shane Hyde.  “It wasn’t the cleanest match, but it’s done.  “We weren’t happy with how we played, there was alot of nervous energy on the court, we had hitters that were afraid to take big swings and had miscommunication in some of our defensive assignments.  But in saying that we battled through those, it’s not out of the ordinary for that to happen in a 1-8 (seeds) game there’s alot of pressure on the #1 seed.”

The Mariners got contributions from a number of different players including Mikayla Wagner who had a match high 11 kills and Megan Rosenlund chipped in with nine.  Setter Chantel Cumming was named the Player of the Match as she was able to quarterback the offence to the sweep.

The top seed will now face the ACAC champion, the Lakeland Rustlers on Friday at 6:00pm.

#7 Camosun Chargers vs. #2 Humber Hawks

The Camosun Chargers played off the energy of a huge crowd on Thursday night to upset the second seeded Humber Hawks in five exciting sets at the CCAA women’s National championship.

After the Hawks took the first set 25-19, the Chargers stormed back in the second, dominating with a 25-6 victory.  They brought that momentum into the third set and took down the Hawks 25-17 behind clutch serving and powerful attacks.

The Hawks then bounced back in the fourth, playing disparate and held on for a 25-20 victory, setting up a fifth and deciding set.

With both teams coming out of the gate strong, the Hawks led 8-5 when the teams switched ends.  However service errors gave the Chargers new life and they made no mistake coming back to win 15-13 and punching their ticket to the gold medal side of the bracket.  They will face the sixth seeded Grand Prairie Wolves at 8:00pm on Friday.

Michelle Zygmunt and Katie Fetting played outstanding, combining for 32 kills.   Zygmunt added eight aces and was named the Player of the Match.