It seems that every time the Conestoga Men's Volleyball team arrives for an OCAA match up against the Royals at Redeemer, sparks fly. Such was the case on Saturday afternoon when former Redeemer Men's Volleyball Coach, Wayne Harris, and his visiting Condors took the court against the home team Royals. The match went the distance with Redeemer edging out Conestoga in 5 sets 23-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 15-9.
The game was highlighted by another incredible performance by Redeemer's
Eric Heidbuurt. Heidbuurt led all scorers with 25 kills and 6 blocks for 31 points. The total now puts Heidbuurt 1 point away from the all-time career points record by a Redeemer Royal. 3-time All-Canadian, Ryan Talsma, currently holds the Redeemer record with 907 points. Heidbuurt also currently sits at 697 Kills during his career. Talsma also holds this record and sits with 719.
In terms of the OCAA records for points and kills, Heidbuurt is poised to finish in the top 5 and may likely settle at 3rd all-time in both categories. Earlier this season, Humber's Terrel Bramwell passed Keith Marier (Algonquin/La Cite) for 1st all-time in points and kills. When the season is over, Heidbuurt has a chance to fall in behind Bramwell and St. Clair's Jason Hernandez (5th year) as the 3rd all-time leading scorer in OCAA history. Marier sits at 910 kills and 1069 total points. Marier set the record in 4 years while Bramwell is currently in his 5th year. Heibuurt is finishing up his 4th and final year.
The women's match also saw big points by Redeemer's leading scorer.
Curtiss Straatsma led all scores with 27 points from 19 kills, 5 aces, and 3 blocks. This was the 5th time this season that Straatsma has scored over 20 points.
The Lady Royals won the match in 5 sets 25-16, 25-17, 22-25, 26-28, 15-9 and improved their OCAA record to 7-6.
Redeemer's
Charlene De Vries also had a big game for the Royals with 16 points off of 10 kills, 2 aces, and 4 blocks. De Vries took charge in the 5th set after Straatsma left in the 4th with a game ending injury. De Vries was nearly unstoppable at the net and helped secure a valuable win for the Royals moving forward. Redeemer's top middle now has double digit points in 4 of the last 6 games.
Like Heidbuurt, Straatsma is destined to finish her career near the top of the record books. Straatsma already holds the Redeemer all-time career points and kills record and is moving in on the OCAA records. Currently, Straatsma has accumulated 1038 total points over her 3 1/2 years. Shawna Metcalf (Cambrian) is the OCAA record holder in both points and kills. In her 4 years, Metcalf finished with 960 kills and 1239 points. Straatsma is still 201 points off of the record and 188 kills, but with 5 games to go, already finds herself 6 kills away from 4th all-time in kills and 82 points away from 3rd all-time in points.
Both Heidbuurt and Straatsma will be recognized for their amazing accomplishments in a ceremony during one of the final Royals home games of this season.
Heidbuurt will get his first shot at the Redeemer record on Wednesday when the Royals play host to the Fanshawe Falcons.
