Hawks Spike Their Way to Victory; Just Another Weekend for Humber Volleyball

This weekend marked a big moment for Humber Hawks sports. Badminton and curling provincials were on with Humber coming out pretty successful. The men’s and women’s basketball teams both had games at Lambton and St. Clair, and coming out with 3 of those 4 wins. At the Hawks Nest on Sunday, all eyes were on the volleyball team as the St. Clair Saints came to Etobicoke. Both the women’s and men’s game had big implications on the line. For the Hawks women, they were protecting their 2nd seed in the OCAA West division from the Saints, who were right on their tail. As for the men, they had their 1st seed all locked up, but they were nursing a perfect record, only dropping 2 sets all season. If they didn’t drop a set Sunday, they would set a new record for the college. It was seniors day too, with Emma Heeney and Andrew Blakey being honoured for their final home games at the Hawks Nest. It was a busy day, so let’s start with the women’s match.

Before the game, Emma Heeney was honoured for playing for final regular season game at Humber with a pregame ceremony. But there was a game to be played! Humber had beaten St. Clair earlier in the season 3 sets to 1. For St. Clair to pass Humber in the standings, they would need to beat Humber in straight sets, never an easy task in the Hawks Nest. The Hawks would lose a close 1st set 25-21, with Kiana Gelissen and Chantel DeVlught having great performances for the Saints. However, Humber would storm back and take the next 2 sets decisively 25-14 and 25-11, making sure that no matter the result of the game, they had that 2nd seed in the OCAA West secured. The 4th set was going the way of Humber, but when coach Chris Wilkens decided to put some of his depth pieces on the court, St. Clair started to come back. Despite the scare, the Hawks would hold on and take the 4th and final set 25-22, taking the match 3 sets to 1. Julia Watson had an outstanding game with 14 points, 2 service aces, 12 digs and a block, bringing it offensively and defensively.

Moving onto the men’s game, Andrew Blakey was honoured, the former Humber baseball player had turned himself into a player heavily leaned on for the team’s success. As for the game itself, Humber continued their dominance all season, and the Saints didn’t stand much of a chance. After easily winning the 1st set 25-8, coach Wayne Wilkens decided to incorporate more of his bench as the game went on. Andrew Blakey continued to be a key piece for the team as they sailed through the next 2 sets 25-10, 25-13 for the straight sets victory. Humber had gone 18-0 on the season and only dropped 2 sets all year, both bests in program history. Blakey would finish the game with 13 points on an astounding 88 percent swing percentage, 2 service aces, 2 digs and 4 blocks.

Next up, Humber will host both the women’s and men’s cross-over games, the last stop before the OCAA Final Eight playoffs. The women will face the Seneca Sting at 3 on Saturday, while the men will face the Centennial Colts at 5 on Saturday. Both games will be streamed live on the Hawks Sports Network. Both teams look promising going into the playoffs, and will surely medal. The only question is: which color will the medals be?