The Lady Royals women's volleyball team has completed the sweep of the Mohawk Mountaineers in the home and home season series by way of a 3-1 win last night at Redeemer. The mountain rivalry between the two teams seemed to be fading over the last number of years as the Lady Royals struggled to compete with the Mountaineers. However, the competition seems to be heating up again and the Royals are now coming out on the winning side.

The women's team dropped the first game 25-19 before settling down and winning the next three (25-22, 25-22, 25-19) on there way to their first win of 2012. The Royals now improve to 5-8 while the Mountaineers fall to 3-10. With the win the Lady Royals keep their playoff hopes alive and currently sit tied for the 6th and final playoff spot.

Curtiss Straatsma led all scorers with 15 offensive points while sister Erika Straatsma had 14. Chi Chi Chuks-Mady had a team high 13 points for Mohawk. Erika Straatsma continued her record setting season as she passed future Hall of Famer Allison Lammers record of Career Kills. She now sits at 497. On Friday against Canadore College, Erika also set a new Redeemer Kills in a Match record with 21, surpassing the old record of 19. With her 14 points last night, she now sits just 26 points away from the coveted record of Total Career Points which currently stands at 645 and is also held by alumni Allison Lammers.

The Men's match also seemed to spark the intense rivalry between the two Hamilton mountain teams as they went the 5 set distance in a thriller. Mohawk jumped out to an early 2 set lead (25-19, 25-17) before the Royals grabbed the momentum and backed by a crowd of about 400 fans, took game 3 (25-23) and game 4 (25-22) to tie it up at 2-2. In what seemed like a playoff type atmosphere, both teams battled right to the end, as extra points were needed. The Royals had two match points but couldn't convert as Mohawk seized their opportunity when they went up 17-16 with one more point and the 18-16 win. Dave Klomps had a game high 17 kills and 19 total points. Derek Vandenbrink led the team in defense and had a game high 11 digs. Aaron Tolkamp led both teams with 3 serving aces. The Men's Volleyball team currently sits tied for 5th in the West Division with 14 points and an 8 point cushion over Niagara who currently sits in 7th place (the top six teams make the playoffs).

Both Volleyball teams travel to Fanshawe College on Friday for a matchup against the Falcons. Game time is at 6pm and 8pm. Fanshawe currently sits ahead of both the Men's and Women's teams and will be another tough test for the Royals.