The Holland College Centre for Community Engagement will be where you’ll find all the action this weekend as the Holland Hurricanes host the 2019 ACAA Volleyball Championships.

The top men’s and women’s collegiate volleyball teams from Atlantic Canada will compete for their respective conference banners over the three day event.

Friday, February 22, 2019 – “Quarter-Final Friday”

Tournament action will begin at 1pm on Friday with the third-seed, UNBSJ Seawolves (14-7) taking on the sixth-seed, UKC Blue Devils (8-13).

The Seawolves will rely on leaders Jenna DeGooyer (126 kills) and Megan LeBlanc (183 digs) to push them to victory while kills and digs leader for the Blue Devils, Abby Hourigan (189/239) looks to cause an upset.

The Seawolves won the first two matches versus the Blue Devils during the regular season, however the UKC Blue Devils won their final matchup.

Quarter-final action continues at 3:30pm on Friday when the fourth-seed, Mount Allison Mounties (12-9) take on the fifth-seed, St. Thomas Tommies (11-10).

Statistical leaders for the Mounties this season have been Rachel Van Gestel (127 kills) and Brooke Gillespie (147 digs) while Megan Mills has had a tremendous season for the Tommies, leading them with 214 kills and 257 digs.

The Mounties were victorious in the first two meetings this regular season with the Tommies, with STU taking the third and final match.

Following quarter-final play on Friday, the ACAA will hand out their volleyball awards from the 2018-2019 regular season at the Culinary Institute of Canada at 7pm at their annual awards banquet.

Saturday, February 23, 2019 – “Semi-Final Saturday”

Following an exciting Friday of action, we will turn our attention towards a busy Saturday which includes four semi-final matches.

Play gets underway at 11:30am when the top-seed, MSVU Mystics, take on the lowest advancing team from Friday’s quarter-final matches.

The Mystics, 21-0 this season, have been led by Madison Urquhart with 266 kills while Kenzie Brimicombe has led the team with 188 digs.

The second women’s semi-final match takes place at 2pm when the host, and second-seed, Holland Hurricanes take on the highest advancing team from Friday’s quarter-finals.

This season the Hurricanes went 15-6 during the regular season with rookie, Abby Hyndman leading the team with 176 kills and Katie Wood leading with 240 digs.

The men’s portion of the tournament begins at 4:30pm on Saturday when the number-one seed, St. Thomas Tommies (12-3) take on the fourth-seed, Université de Sainte-Anne Dragons (1-14).

Christian Christie (164 kills) and Evan BanBuskirk (211 digs) look to lead the Tommies to the conference championship game while Anthony Jacques (203 kills) and Antoine Savoie (130 digs) have their eyes on an upset for the Dragons.

The Tommies won all five matches versus the Dragons during the regular season.

An exciting Saturday will come to a close after a 7pm match between the second-seed, UNBSJ Seawolves (9-6), and the hosts, and third-seed, Holland Hurricanes (8-7).

This could be the match of the tournament as these teams have played each other incredibly close all regular season; the Seawolves won the season series 3-2.

Luke O’Grady (182 kills) and Ryan Farrell (188 digs) have been leaders for the Seawolves this season while Brett Butler (205 kills) and Marcus Lapointe (161 digs) have been the top statistical performers for the Hurricanes.

Sunday, February 24, 2019 – “Championship Sunday”

With just four teams remaining on Sunday morning, we will quickly determine who the ACAA’s two volleyball champions will be.

At 12pm, the women will take the floor for the ACAA Women’s Volleyball Championship match, followed by the ACAA Men’s Volleyball Championship match taking place at 2:30pm.

On top of competing for conference championships on Sunday, the winning teams will represent the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association at the CCAA National Championships; the women’s event taking place at Niagara College in Ontario while the men’s championship will be played in Alberta at Red Deer College.

All of this weekend’s action takes place at the Holland College Centre for Community Engagement located at 323 Grafton Street in Charlottetown, PEI.

For more information on the 2019 ACAA Volleyball Championships, visit www.acaa.ca.

To watch the action live from this weekend, visit www.ACAAtv.ca.

Connect with the volleyball Hurricanes on social media by visiting www.twitter.com/caneswvball and www.twitter.com/canesmvball.

For more information on the Holland Hurricanes, please visit www.hollandhurricanes.com, www.facebook.com/hollandhurricanes, www.twitter.com/hc_hurricanes and www.instagram.com/hollandhurricanes.

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