Kajan Thiruthanikasalam (Sports Writer, Colts Athletics)
BELLEVILLE, ONT.- It was supposed to be the perfect night for the Loyalist Lancers women's volleyball team as they honoured Seniors Night for six graduating players, one of them being the CCAA leader in kills, Sara Piana Yafu. The Lancers were also just one game away from finishing undefeated at home.
The Centennial Colts, however, clearly didn't get the memo and promptly ruined what was supposed to be a night of celebration.
Centennial (15-3) gave Loyalist (16-2) their first home loss of the season, as they prevailed in four sets (27-25, 25-27, 25-16, 25-19) at the Lancerdome in what was the regular season finale for both teams. With the win, the Colts ended the regular season on a program record 12 game winning streak and also snapped the Lancers' 10 game win streak.
"I'm more happy with how we've grown; obviously the winning streak is good. We're playing the brand of volleyball that we want to play," Cheung said. "We've hit a lot of our goals and in a lot of ways, we've already won a lot of battles."
Loyalist will now play a crossover playoff game on Saturday Feb. 17 at 1:00pm against the Cambrian Golden Shield at the Lancerdome to determine who advances to the OCAA Championships next week at Centennial College.
Mari Pikkov led four Colts in double figures with 14 points on 14 kills while Elizabeth Chow had 13 on 11 kills and two aces. Emily Joe scored 12 points and had a game high five aces while Heather Sanchez bounced back with 12 points on 12 kills and was the most efficient Colt on the attack (0.478).
Nadjema Soro finished with a game high 43 assists while Kaitlyn Hancock left her mark on this game, with a game high 14 digs in the win.
"She had to adjust her position a little bit and got beat a lot in the first two sets," Cheung said. "But she picked it up."
Emilie Leneveu led all scorers with 18 points on 11 kills and a game high seven blocks; she also was the most efficient player on either team on the attack (0.588). Yafu finished with 16 points on 15 kills while Christine Madogo had 10 on four blocks and six kills.
The first sets were decided in extra points as both teams were determined not to give in to each other, with neither team leading by more than three points in the process. Despite Yafu's five kills, Sanchez's four kills combined with Joe's three aces led the Colts to a 27-25 first set win. Centennial had two chances at set point during the second set but could not capitalize, with Loyalist ultimately tying up the match and winning the second set, 27-25.
The rest of the match, however, was dominated by the visitors. Chow had five kills while Pikkov began to heat up, getting four kills during a third set in which Centennial took, 25-16. And in the fourth set, after the first 12 points were exchanged, the Colts took the lead for good as Pikkov continued her run, getting five kills during the third set.
Sanchez capped off the set and the match with a kill as Centennial stunned the Lancers and their fans, winning the final set, 25-19.
HIGHLIGHTS
After committing 20 or more errors in the previous two games, Centennial committed just 14 errors in the four set match and outpaced Loyalist, 45-37, in kills.
"That was what we talked about before the game, limiting our errors," Cheung said. "That's how we need to play going forward."
The Colts also beat the Lancers in digs (51-49), assists (44-35), and aces (8-6) despite Loyalist dominating the blocks column (14-2).
THE PROCESS IS PAYING OFF
In the 2015-16 season, the Colts finished 3-17 and the following year, they finished 10-8 before getting eliminated in a crossover playoff game against the Fanshawe Falcons. Cheung says that all the hard work since the volleyball program was built from scratch has finally come to fruition this season as the team now looks to provincials.
"That's the nature of building a program; you're definitely not going to show the on-court results right away," Cheung said. "We had to go through that process of learning and this is what happens when we try to do the right things and develop properly."
WHAT'S NEXT FOR CENTENNIAL?
The Colts finished the season with its best ever regular season since going back into the OCAA, going 15-3 (7-2 at home; 8-1 on the road) and finishing second in the OCAA East and third in the OCAA overall.
Due to hosting provincials, Centennial earns a bye from the crossover match and will await the winner of Saturday's crossover between the Georgian Grizzlies and the St. Clair Saints. Cheung says that this season has already been special but wants to see how the team fares against teams in the West like St. Clair, Mohawk, Fanshawe, and Humber.
"Whatever the result, we know it's going to be good matches. We just want to know how we've really grown," Cheung said. "They're really good teams and we want to see what our measuring stick is right now."
Centennial will play its quarterfinal on Thursday Feb. 22, at 6:00pm, at the Athletic and Wellness Centre.