It wasn't the color they were hoping for but the Royals can walk away knowing they left everything they had on the court this weekend, bringing home a Provincial Silver Medal to prove it.
The Humber Hawks repeated as OCAA Champions with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 26-24) victory over Redeemer in the Gold Medal Game. While the score indicated a sweep for the Hawks, the matched proved to be much different with a relentless battle for each point. The Royals seemed to match the Hawks point for point until late in each game when Humber was able to pull away or provide a comeback for the win.
A vocal crowd made-up mostly of loyal Royals fans, added to the intensity of the hard-fought match. Along for the ride all weekend, the fans cheered the Royals to their first ever Men's Division 1 Silver Medal. With a Bronze medal in 2009-2010 and a Silver medal in 2010-2011, the Royals will look to once again better themselves next year in 2011-2012. With Josh Dykxhoorn playing his last game as a Royal, Redeemer will be returning everyone else for next season.
Redeemer finished 8-10 on the OCAA regular season, and qualified for the Championship tournament via a playoff elimination victory over the Loyalist Lancers. They then defeated the No. 1 ranked Sheridan Bruins and the Mohawk Mountaineers to advance to the Championship Final. The Humber Hawks defeated the Nipissing Lakers and the host Seneca Sting to advance to the Gold Medal Game.
Matthew Isaacs, an OCAA All-Star and one of the Championship Final Adidas/VSP Sports Players of the Game notched 12 Points and 7 Kills in the victory. Meanwhile, the Royals, who battled to the final set, were led by Aaron Vanderlugt, of Burlington, Ont., who scored 10 Points, contributed five blocks along with four kills. Vanderlugt was also named Player of the Game for Redeemer.
Below is a complete list of In-Tournament Award Winners:
Tournament All-Stars - 2011 Adidas/VSP Sports OCAA Men's Volleyball Championship
Jason Hernandez, Seneca Sting
Justin Scapinello, Mohawk Mountaineers
Christian Vandergeest, Redeemer Royals
David Klomps, Redeemer Royals
Andre Brown, Humber Hawks
Brendan Wong, Humber Hawks
OCAA Fair Play Award
Sheridan Bruins
Tournament MVP - 2011 Adidas/VSP Sports OCAA Men's Volleyball Championship
Derek Quinn, Humber Hawks