The Holland Hurricanes men’s and women’s volleyball teams were involved in three exciting matches over the weekend in Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association regular season play.  The men were victorious in a five-set thriller in Fredericton, NB versus the first-place, St. Thomas Tommies, while the women suffered a loss in a five-set marathon to the UNBSJ Seawolves on Saturday in Saint John, NB, before falling to the first-place MSVU Mystics in four sets on Sunday at the Holland College Centre for Community Engagement.

In the men’s game, the Hurricanes picked up their sixth victory of the season with set wins of 25-23, 17-25, 28-30, 25-21 and 16-14.

Brett Butler led the attack for the Hurricanes with a match-high 19 kills with Simon Archibald and John Ronalds adding ten and nine respectively.

Nicholas Menzies dished out a match-high 42 assists while Marcus Lapointe had 20 digs in the win. Butler and Archibald added 12 digs each for the ‘Canes.

Ben Singer recorded 14 kills to lead the Tommies in the loss.

With the victory, the Hurricanes move to 6-6 on the season; they sit in third place, now just two points back of the UNBSJ Seawolves for second.  The ‘Canes have won three straight matches, and four of their last five, while the Tommies are now 10-2 as they lead the ACAA standings.

The Hurricanes return to the court on Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 12pm when they host the Tommies at the Holland College Centre for Community Engagement.

In the women’s match on Saturday in Saint John, NB versus the UNBSJ Seawolves, the ‘Canes dropped a heartbreaker by set scores of 25-27, 14-25, 25-18, 25-20 and 28-26.

Jasmine Smith led the attack for the Hurricanes with 23 kills with Abby Hyndman and Taylor Allen adding 11 and ten respectively.

Laura Ready had 51 assists in the loss while Katie Wood led a balanced defensive effort with 22 digs. Smith added 16 digs with Allen and Ready both recording 11.

Jenna DeGooyer led the Seawolves to victory with 15 kills in the match.

With the victory on Saturday, plus another win on Sunday, the UNBSJ Seawolves now sit at 11-6 on the season and in a three-way tie for second place in the ACAA.

On Sunday at home versus the first-place MSVU Mystics, the Hurricanes fell by set scores of 25-23, 18-25, 25-21 and 25-21.

Smith once again led the attack for the ‘Canes, this time picking up 11 kills with Allen adding ten and both Hyndman and Brittany States recording seven.

Ready dished out 31 assists in the loss while Wood recorded 21 digs for the ‘Canes.

Janine Marshall led the Mystics to victory with 11 kills in the match.

With back-to-back losses over the weekend, the Hurricanes fall to 11-5 on the season, now sitting in a three-way tie for second with the Seawolves (11-6) and Mount Allison Mounties (11-6) with 22 points this season.  The Mystics continue to lead the ACAA standings with a 17-0 record.

The Hurricanes return to action on Saturday when they visit the UKC Blue Devils at 4pm in Halifax, NS; they will then visit the MSVU Mystics at 12pm on Sunday.

The Holland Hurricanes are the hosts of the 2019 ACAA Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Championships on February 22-24 at the Holland College Centre for Community Engagement in Charlottetown.

For more information on ACAA volleyball, visit www.acaa.ca.

To connect with the volleyball Hurricanes, visit 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.

-30-