Gold Medal Match: VIU Mariners 3, Elans de Garneau 1
For the third consecutive season, the VIU Mariners of the PACWEST are CCAA champions in Women’s Volleyball. The VIU Mariners defeated the Élans de Garneau in four sets (22-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-17) to complete the three-preat.
The host Élans came out strong and earned a first set victory. But, coach Shane Hyde’s Mariners answered right back in the second set.
The Mariners never looked back.
Four players from the Élans led the charge with 43 kills out of 46 total attacks. Player of the Game for the host team, Laurence Flammand, dominated with 14 kills and nine digs. She was also named to the first All-Star team. Roxanne St-Amant and Jade Marquis also had a productive night with 11 kills and 10 kills, respectively. Both players were named to the second All-Star team. Justine Raymond, who was named a CCAA All-Canadian, completed the match with eight kills. Team captain Rachel St-Amand contributed 41 assists and seven digs.
The Player of the Game for the Mariners was Jane Nyukhalova, who had a strong outing with 20 kills. Karoline Tormena and Andrea Cankovic combined for a total of 22 kills. Shelby Dorman-Banks completed the match with 43 assists and 10 digs. Amanda Dobbyn, Shelby Dorman-Banks and Andrea Cankovic of the Mariners were all named on the first All-Star team.
VIU’s Karoline Tormena was named MVP for the tournament.
For the Élans, it’s a 19th medal at the CCAA Championship. With this victory, the Mariners won a 6th CCAA gold medal for a total of 17 medals at the CCAA Championship.
Bronze Medal Match: Red Deer Queens 3, Fanshawe Falcons 1
The Queens avenged their quarter-final loss to the Falcons to earn a bronze medal at the 2020 CCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championship.
Red Deer came up with a big game to win the match in four sets (25-14, 25-17, 18-25, 25-21).
The Queens started strong winning the first set with an attack efficiency rating of .310 as opposed to -.040 for the Falcons. They kept going in the second set by giving a lot of trouble to the Falcons. Behind 2 sets to 0, the Falcons came back in the third set while the Queens attack efficiency rating falling to -0,030.
Just like in the previous games, Red Deer’s offence was clicking. Erin Neufeldt, Tess Pearman and Emma Holmes led the Queens with more than 60% of the team’s total kills. Emma Holmes was named to the second All-Star team as her teammate Alexandria Greenshie was named to the first All-Star team. Kaylee Domoney received the Player of the Game award and Emma Letkman distinguished herself with 34 assists.
Team Captain Janelle Albert was again a dominant force for the Falcons with a total of 16 kills and 21 digs. She was named to the first All-Star team. Setter Ashley Rafferty finished the match with 40 assists. Kiana Lee also contributed to the Falcons offensive effort with 11 kills. Mattea Deleary was named Player of the Game for the OCAA team, finishing the match with a .417 attack efficiency rating.
Red Deer earned its 18th medal at the CCAA Championship and sixth bronze medal.
Match 10: Red Deer Queens 3, Briercrest Clippers 2
The second bronze semi-final of the day matched two teams from the ACAC, the Queens and the Clippers. Red Deer triumphed over Briercrest in five sets (24-26, 25-23, 21-25, 25-14, 15-12) to eliminate the Clippers.
Both teams had 18 errors in the first set alone. Briercrest, the ACAC champions, finally won the first set over Red Deer in a closely fought battle.
Many players from Red Deer put their shoulder to the wheel on offense to win the second set over the Clippers.
In the third set, Red Deer tried to resist but were overwhelmed by the Clippers repeated attacks. The fourth set was more difficult for the Clippers who posted an attack efficiency rating of only 0.095 as opposed to Red Deer’s .500.
The fifth and decisive set was won by the Queens, who move on to face the Falcons for CCAA bronze.
The Queens offence was led by Erin Neufeldt, Alexandria Greenshie and Jaiden Ferguson who together accounted for more than 65% of the team’s total kills. Jaiden Ferguson was awarded the Player of the Game award for Red Deer. Rookie Emma Letkman’s outstanding performance for the Queens totalled 48 assists.
Fifth-year player Rebecca Garner finished the match with 11 kills over 49 attacks for the Clippers. Garner’s plays for Briercrest were exceptional and she was also earned the CCAA Exemplary Leadership award. Captain Ashley Erickson finished the game with 38 assists and fifth-year player Kirsty Kindrachuk received the Player of the Game award.
Match 9: Fanshawe Falcons 3, Camosun Chargers 0
In the opening game on the final day of the CCAA Championship, the Fanshawe Falcons defeated the Camosun Chargers in three straight sets (25-23, 25-17, 25-20) to advance to the CCAA bronze medal final.
The Falcons had a slow start in the first set but Patrick Johnson’s team turned on the heat in the second half of the first set and won. The Falcons never looked back and, posting a .400 efficiency rating for attack, took the next two sets. The Chargers tried to match their opponents’ pace but the Falcons proved to be too strong for the PACWEST wildcard holders.
Fanshawe captain Janelle Albert dominated the offensive matchup with 17 kills for 37 attacks. Setter Ashley Raffertty finished the game with 32 assists. Outside hitter Katie Stewart was also a factor in the Ontarian team’s offensive dominance with 10 kills and a .400 efficiency attack rating. Libero Laren Reycraft was named Player of the Game for the Falcons.
For the Chargers, captain and setter Katie Wayling showed her skill with 16 assists, five more than teammate Tayle Pomponio. Mika Yamada completed her match with 14 kills. In addition, Sydney Svicenec and Maddison Yule had a total of 11 kills. Yamada received the Player of the Game honours.