By: Giovanni Siciliano
The Humber men’s volleyball team are off to the 2019 OCAA Provincial Championships. The playoff championship tournament will be hosted by Humber at the college’s North Campus from February 21-23 in Toronto.
Humber hasn’t won an OCAA championship since the 2011-2012 season. They also went on to win the National Championship that same year. 2018-2019 was one of their best seasons in recent history so now they look to write the final chapter.
It was a long, gruelling season for the Hawks, but they were still able to maintain their focus and finish this season strong. Humber finished with a 16-2 record and sit second overall in the in the western conference. That also puts them tied with Georgian at second overall for the entire OCAA standings. The only team ahead of Humber is fellow conference rivals in Fanshawe.
The Hawks closed out their season last week with back to back games against Niagara and Mohawk. They had swept both teams in those games and that gives them a ton of confidence heading into the playoffs. Outside hitter Rrezart Sadiku says they will keep on moving forward. “We finished the regular season with two strong wins. The season went amazing. I know the guys are happy and the coaching staff is pleased with the performance.”
The Hawks will now look ahead to the quarter-finals on Thursday, February 21. Humber is already through to the final eight by way of hosting the championship but still will have to wait patiently to find out who they will be playing. Humber will match up against the winner of Seneca versus Mohawk.
Rrezart thinks they got away with one by hosting the tournament. “We don’t have to play a crossover match, so we have lots of time to prepare and stay healthy,” he said. “When the brackets came out we were really happy with our matchups, but the championships are the real test. This is where upsets always happen, so we have to stay on our game every day.” Sadiku added.
Humber went 2-0 against Mohawk this season and only saw Seneca twice in early pre-season play going 1-1. Regardless of who Humber plays, they expect to win it all.
