The 2019 ACAA Volleyball Championships began on Friday at the Holland College Centre for Community Engagement in Charlottetown, PEI hosted by the Holland Hurricanes.

Match #1 | Women’s Quarter-Finals | (3) UNBSJ Seawolves vs (6) UKC Blue Devils

The UNBSJ Seawolves defeated the UKC Blue Devils on Friday in women’s quarter-final action in straight-sets.

A 25-15 first set victory by UNBSJ was followed by a comeback win in the second set by a score of 25-23; the match ended with the Seawolves winning the third and final set, 25-19.

Dayna Alexander led the Seawolves offense with 11 kills in the match while also recording a team-high 10 digs.

Laura Hughes-McKay (9 kills) and Kristin Conrad (13 digs) were the top performers for the UKC Blue Devils in the loss.

The UNBSJ Seawolves will now take on the host, Holland Hurricanes, in semi-final action on Saturday at 2pm; the Hurricanes received a bye to the semi-finals as the second seed after a 15-6 regular season.

The Seawolves finished the regular season at 14-7, and won the season series versus the Hurricanes 2-1.

Montanna Meyer (UNBSJ) and Alex Jackson (UKC) were the players of the game in Friday’s first quarter-final match.

Match #2 | Women’s Quarter-Finals | (4) Mount Allison Mounties vs (5) STU Tommies

The second and final match of the day featured the Mount Allison Mounties defeating the STU Tommies in five exciting sets in the second women’s quarter-final match of the day.

The Tommies would take an early lead in the match with a 25-22 first set win before the Mounties tied the match with a convincing 25-15 second set victory.

The two teams traded leads in the third and fourth sets, with the Tommies winning the third 25-22 and the Mounties evening the match in the fourth with a 25-21 win.

Neither team gave an inch during the entire match which was evident in the fifth and deciding set, eventually won by the Mounties 16-14 in front of a rowdy crowd at the Holland College Centre for Community Engagement.

Rachel Van Gestel led the Mounties offensively with 16 kills while also leading her team with 18 digs.

Leading the Tommies in kills was Megan Mills (17 kills) and Mija MacDonald (22 digs).

With the victory the Mounties advance to Saturday’s semi-finals where they will face the top-seed MSVU Mystics at 11:30am at the Holland College Centre for Community Engagement.

The Mystics receive a bye to the semi-finals after a perfect 21-0 regular season.  This season the Mystics swept the Mounties in all three meetings during the regular season.

Rachel Van Gestel (Mounties) and Mija MacDonald (Tommies) were named the players of the game in the match.

ACAA Awards Banquet

On Friday evening the ACAA held their annual awards banquet at the Culinary Institute of Canada in Charlottetown.

Major award winners were Madison Urquhart (MSVU) and Zane Hamilton (UNBSJ) who were named the 2019 ACAA Players of the Year.  Both individuals were also recognized as CCAA All-Canadians.  Also receiving CCAA All-Canadian honours were Maggie Birney (UNBSJ) and Brett Butler (Holland College).

Rookie of the Year award winners were Abby Hyndman (Holland College) and Henry Doucet (STU) while Lauren Hale Miller (UNBSJ) and Henri Mallet (STU) were named the ACAA Coaches of the Year.

Recipients of the Libero of the Year awards were Katie Wood (Holland College) and Ryan Farrell (UNBSJ).

Lastly, the ACAA recognized their men’s and women’s All-Conference teams.

The first women’s ACAA All-Conference team consisted of Jaylene Fraser (MSVU), Maggie Birney (UNBSJ), Rachel McDougall (Mount Allison), Megan Mills (STU), Brittany States (Holland College) and Madison Urquhart (MSVU) while Jenna DeGooyer (UNBSJ), Abby Hourigan (UKC), Jenn Leckey (MSVU), Hannah Miller (STU), Rachel Van Gestel (Mount Allison) and Abby Hyndman (Holland College) made up the second team.

On the men’s side, Brett Butler (Holland College), Christian Christie (STU), Garret Dickson (STU), Zane Hamilton (UNBSJ), Anthony Jacques (USA) and Luke O’Grady (UNBSJ) were named to the ACAA All-Conference team.

Saturday will consist of four semi-final matches beginning at 11:30am; all matches take place at the Holland College Centre for Community Engagement located at 323 Grafton Street in Charlottetown.

Day 2 schedule – Saturday, February 23, 2019

11:30am | Women’s Semi-Final | (1) MSVU Mystics vs (4) Mount Allison Mounties

2pm | Women’s Semi-Final | (2) Holland Hurricanes vs (3) UNBSJ Seawolves

4:30pm | Men’s Semi-Final | (1) STU Tommies vs (4) USA Dragons

7pm | Men’s Semi-Final | (2) UNBSJ Seawolves vs (3) Holland Hurricanes

For full results and information on the 2019 ACAA Volleyball Championships, visit www.acaa.ca.

To watch all matches live, visit www.ACAAtv.ca.

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

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