The Redeemer Men's Volleyball team ran out to a 2-0 lead tonight on the road against the division leading Humber Hawks and held on for the 3-1 victory and the upset against the #2 ranked team in the country. In their biggest win of the season, the Royals refused to back down to the home team and became just the 2nd opponent to defeat the Hawks on their home court this season.

It's been an uncharacteristic season for the Royals this past year (3-9 OCAA) and tonight's win against one of the top teams in Canada proves that matches in the competitive OCAA West are unpredictable. Programs can find themselves in or out of the playoff hunt in the blink of an eye with such a strong collection of OCAA volleyball teams playing at a very high level. The Royals have been a model of consistency over the last decade in the OCAA and Thursday night's win shows the fight and determination of a team that is accustomed to winning big games.

Despite their struggles in 2015, the Royals now look ahead to their remaining games on the schedule. Had the Royals fallen to the Hawks on Thursday, the team would have essentially been eliminated from playoff contention. However, with the win, Redeemer moves forward facing 4 teams in their last 6 games with a combined record of just 4 wins and 31 losses. The Royals will also need to look for wins against the 9-4 Sheridan Bruins and the 7-4 Fanshawe Falcons, both of which are at home.

In Thursday's match, Eric Heidbuurt once again drove the offense for the Royals leading the team with 16 kills, 3 aces, and 2 blocks. Heidbuurt continues to be one of the premiere players in the OCAA and the only player in the province to be in the top 12 in Kills (4th), Points (2nd), PTS/S (3rd), Aces (3rd), and Blocks (11th).

Humber's Terrel Bramwell had a game-high 24 kills against the Royals. Going into the match, Bramwell and Heidbuurt were 1 and 2 respectively in the race for the OCAA Scoring title. 

Redeemer's Timon Moolman added 8 points, while Jake Klassen had 28 assists.

Set scores were 25-22, 25-17, 19-25, and 25-21.

On the Women's side, Humber kept their incredible win streak intact with a 3-0 win over Redeemer (25-22, 25-10, 25-22).

It was another battle between two of the leagues top offensive players as Redeemer's Curtiss Straatsma and Humber's Thalia Hanniman met for the 2nd and final time during the OCAA regular season. Hanniman came out on top statistically with 14 total points while Straatsma and Charlene De Vries each added a team high 9 points.

Like Heidbuurt, Straatsma is near the top in almost all offensive categories. When matched up head to head with Hanniman, Straatsma wins the battle in Points, Aces, Digs, and Blocks while Hanniman edges out Straatsma in PTS/S and Kills.

Looking forward, the Royals now begin a very important stretch that will determine their playoff seeding when it comes to the OCAA Provincial Championships. In their final 6 league games of 2015, Redeemer faces 5 teams that are below them in the standings. Sheridan is the only team that occupies a higher spot. It will be important for the team to enter the OCAA Championships having played great volleyball down the stretch and peaking at the right time.

Next up for both volleyball teams is a home date against the Conestoga Condors on Saturday at 1pm and 3pm.