Humber’s women’s volleyball team swept the Sault Cougars in their Nov. 1 home opener in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) match on Saturday.
This was the Hawks' first meeting against the Cougars since 2011. The Hawks swept them on Jan. 1 that year.
Head coach Chris Wilkins said the return of the Cougars is exciting, as they are back in the league after more than a decade.
“They're a competitive team already in their first year, which is great,” he said. “One of my former players is actually one of the coaches over there, which is awesome.”
“Obviously, we're going to try and give them a good run today, but it's exciting,” Wilkins said.
The Hawks struggled in the first set, as they were trailing, but eventually took the lead at 17-16.
Despite a timeout call by Sault, the Hawks maintained the lead and would secure the set win 25-22 after first-year setter Jessie McDonaugh served up a service ace.
The second set saw Humber dominate the game with fifth-year outside hitter Lexie Zicari delivering five service aces in the round. They would win the second set 25-9 with third-year Lexi Sabo serving the set-point kill.
This was one of the Hawks' best performances of this new season, preventing Sault from reaching double-digit points. The last time Humber brought a team to only a single-digit point in a set was against the Boreal Viperes on Oct. 18, 2024.
The third set would be the same story as the Hawks dominated the whole game and would secure the win 25-13.
This extended Humber’s home opener sweep against OCAA teams to 14 seasons in a row. The last time the Hawks failed to pull a sweep set win in their home opener was against the Niagara Knights, a 3-1 result in the 2011-'12 season.
After the game, first-year middle blocker Faith Hughes said the team's energy and preparation showed throughout the match.
“We did really well considering this was our first home opener,” she said. “We've been working super hard in practice on little things.”
“I really think that we put that out there, our serving was really good, we were all super aggressive, and I love this team so much,” Hughes said.
Chris said he was proud of the early impact that his rookies made in the game.
“Faith [Hughes], obviously, she's going to be a big part of our team, and she did (really) good tonight,” he said. “Our first-year setter, Jessie [McDonaugh], did a good job coming in and really kind of controlling the offence.
Humber also played against Sault on Sunday, where they won the game in a sweep 3-0.
Following that game, the Hawks are now undefeated with a 4-0 record in the OCAA Western Division.
Humber will face the Conestoga Condors, who are 3-1 at home on Nov. 12, with the first serve set to begin at 6 p.m.
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