Lady Lakers settle for silver

OSHAWA, ON. – The defending OCAA champion Humber Hawks women’s volleyball team defeated the Nipissing Lakers 3-1 (25-16, 25-18, 17-25, 25-19) in an intense championship matchup to reclaim OCAA gold at the 2009 Belair Direct OCAA Voleyball Championship hosted by Durham College. The jammed packed Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre (CRWC) only added to the intensity that the two teams played with on the court.

This was the fourth straight meeting in the OCAA championship final between the two schools, with Nipissing winning in 2007 and Humber winning in 2006, 2008 and now 2009. With the win, Humber extended their OCAA medal winning streak to seven years while Nipissing has won a medal in the past four seasons.

Both teams will be looking for national gold in two weeks as they both advance to the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship hosted by Nipissing University in North Bay from March 12-14, 2009.

In tonight’s gold medal match, the first and second sets saw a great deal of domination by the Hawks, most notably the front line including Rachel Dubbeldam, Michelle Overzet and OCAA Player of the Year Landis Doyle. The team from Etobicoke seemingly had finished the game early on as they carried a two set lead, picking up 25-16 and 25-18 victories.

Heading into the third set, the Lakers made some adjustments to their strategy, which would turn the game around as they picked up an exciting 25-17 victory to put the score line at 2-1.

In the fourth and final set, the teams were tied for the first eight points with the intensity picking up in the CRWC. The Hawks would get into a rhythm as they surged ahead in the game, as the sensed victory. Humber would find a way to close out the game as they were able to seize the golden moment with a 25-19 fourth set victory, earning their second consecutive OCAA Championship.

The Humber effort was made possible by libero Kendra Todd who racked up an amazing 24 digs in the match. Kris Dowling had five kills and 11 digs while player of the game, Alex Steplock, recorded three kills and eight key digs that played a major role in golden effort.

Offensively for the Hawks, Michelle Overzet led the teams in scoring with 18 points (15 kills, 3 blocks) while Doyle picked up 15 points (13 kills, 1 ace, 1 block). For her efforts throughout the two day tournament, Overzet was named the championship MVP.

The Nipissing momentum was led most notably by CCAA All-Canadian Stefanie Hancock who was behind the third set victory with 18 kills, two aces and 12 digs in the match. Ashley Hummel also provided a great deal of support with 16 digs that kept momentum in favour of the Lakers. Middle Laura Hudson also put up big numbers with 18 points (14 kills, 1 ace, 3 blocks) on the night.