The Redeemer Royals Men's Volleyball team has qualified for its 3rd consecutive OCAA Provincial Championships. After a regular season of both highs and lows, the men's team will head to North Bay on a high after defeating the Loyalist Lancers in a 5 set thriller this past Saturday. The game was a playoff match with the winner advancing to the final 8 Provincial Championships and the loser having their season come to an end.

The match proved to be an all out battle between the 14-6 Lancers and the 10-8 Royals. Redeemer went into the match with a 5-4 record on the road while Loyalist was a comfortable 9-1 at home. Loyalist took the first set 25-21 before Redeemer took control of the match winning the second and thirds sets 25-20 and 25-19. The home team did not back down however as they tied it up at 2-2 backed by a home crowd and a 25-22 win. Fortunately for the Royals, they took away the Lancers momentum early in the fifth and deciding set by going up 8-2. Redeemer held onto the lead and a 15-12 win and a spot at next week's Provincial Championships.

Dave Klomps continued his all-star like season with 19 points off of 15 kills, 1 ace, and 3 blocks. However, it was the tandem of Redeemer middles who did the majority of the damage to the Loyalist defense as Aaron Vander Lugt had 13 points and Christian VanderGeest had 12. Josh Lappala had a game high 22 points for Loyalist.

The Men's Volleyball team qualified last year for the Provincial Championships with an 8-10 record after defeating Loyalist in the 2010-2011 crossover match. The Men's team went on to defeat the #1 ranked Sheridan Bruins in the opening game of the Championships and did not lose a match until the finals against Humber College. The Royals will get a very early chance at revenge this year as they face the #1 ranked Humber Hawks in their opening match at this years Championships. Their opening match takes place Thursday at 3pm.

You can follow the 2011-2012 OCAA Men's Volleyball Championships here: http://www.nipissingathletics.ca/ocaamvb/