The St. Thomas University (STU) Tommies will be playing in the ACAA championship game after taking down the hosting Holland College Hurricanes in four sets on Saturday afternoon at the McMillan Centre for Community Engagement. 

 

The Hurricanes were looking to advance to the finals in front of their home fans but the Tommies high powered offense was simply too much for the hosts to handle. 

 

The first set saw both teams trading points back and forth, neither side could gain a sizeable lead. The Tommies led 21-19 and forced Holland to take their first time out, the Hurricanes instantly responded with 2 straight points, tying the game at 21. STU got the next point and Holland used their final timeout to calm their nerves. Holland got the next point, and tied the game at 22, but, the Tommies took the next three points, claiming the first set 25-22.

 

The Hurricanes came out hot in the second set in front of their huge crowd of home fans. The support helped the Hurricanes to jump out to a 4-1 lead. The Tommies made it close by tying the set at 6-6 but the Hurricanes pulled away with a five-point run and never looked back. Taking the set 25-17 and tying the game 1-1.

 

The third set was close back and forth to start, but the Tommies eventually began to run away with it. The set was tied 4-4 but an 8-0 run helped give STU a commanding lead they never gave up. A timeout by Holland hoped to turn the momentum around but it was too late. While Holland never gave up with their home crowd behind them, they had no answer for the Tommies' consistent pressure and strong defense. The Tommies won the set 25- 12 and took a 2-1 lead in the game. 

 

The fourth set started with the Tommies coming out to a commanding 5-1 lead, but the Hurricanes weren't backing down, after a timeout was called by Holland, they got six of the next ten points. Back-and-forth action continued with the Tommies maintaining a one or two-point lead until the Hurricanes eventually tied the set 16-16. The crowd was electric trying to help the hometown Hurricanes advance to the finals. The teams continued to trade points until the Hurricanes went on a 3-1 run thanks to three straight blocks from Holland's Brett MacAusland to put the Hurricanes up 21-19. But STU didn't falter, and they would fight back to tie the set at 24 and eventually win the set and the game. 

 

Mason Brewster was awarded Tommies Player of the Game honours after recording 11 kills, one assist, and two digs. Dallas Melnick led the team with 17 kills while Tim Juvonen led with 26 assists.

 

Carson Gray earned Hurricanes Player of the Game after recording 15 kills and seven digs. Tyler McBride led the team with 27 assists while Connor Daniels led with nine digs. 

 

The Tommies will face the winner of Saturday evening's matchup between the University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves and The Université de Sainte-Anne Dragons in the championship game at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.