The Universitè Sainte-Anne Dragons took down the St. Thomas University (STU) Tommies in four sets to take home the 2025 ACAA championship at the McMillan Centre for Community Engagement on Sunday afternoon. 

 

It was a thrilling four-set match, with great back-and-forth action between the two teams, but the Dragons high powered offense was simply too much for the Tommies. 

 

The first set started as a tough back-and-forth battle, with the two teams finding themselves tied 6-6. But the Tommies would go on a 9-3 run taking a 15-9 lead forcing Sainte-Anne to call their first timeout. The timeout seemed to be exactly what the Dragons needed, as they went on a 5-1 run right after. But the Tommies responded quickly going on a 5-1 run of their own, regaining their six-point lead and forcing the Dragons to call their final timeout of the set. The Tommies wouldn't let Sainte-Anne get any momentum, and their combination of great blocking and lethal kills proved too much for the Dragons, as STU took the first set 25-17. 

 

After losing the first set, it looked like the Dragons were going to be in trouble in the second after going down 3-1 early. But the Dragons bounced back and went on a 5-0 run, taking a 6-3 lead, forcing the Tommies to use their first timeout. The timeout wouldn't do much for the Tommies, as the teams began to trade points back and forth, STU couldn't get any sort of run going. The Dragons offense gave them a 19-12 lead, forcing the Tommies to call their final timeout of the set. The Tommies came out of the timeout strong, going on a 5-2 run, but the lead was too large to mount any comeback, as Sainte-Anne would win the set 25-18 from a service ace by Liam Pelletier.

 

With the game tied 1-1, the third set started as another back-and-forth battle with the Dragons leading 12-8. The teams continued to trade points, but the Tommies just couldn't catch up. The Dragons pushed their lead to six and forced STU to take a timeout down 16-10. It didn't help the Tommies, as the Dragons would go on a 6-1 run making the set 22-11, STU tried to battle back but again the lead was too much. Sainte-Anne claimed the third set 25-15 off of a service ace by Oliver Rutherford to take a 2-1 lead in the game. 

 

The fourth set was a battle to start, but the Dragons began to pull away with strong offensive play. The Tommies couldn't get a run going and were down 13-9 when they were forced to call their first timeout of the set. The timeout didn't work, and the Dragons went on an 8-2 run, giving them a 21-11 lead. The Tommies tried to battle back, but they weren't able to stop the Dragons' high-powered offense, as a lethal kill from Jeremy Bourque sealed the set, and the match, for the Dragons.

 

Liam Pelletier earned Player of the Game honours for the Dragons after recording 18 kills and seven service aces. Louis-Philipe LeBlan was tied with Vincent Doucet for most digs with eight. Ethan Aucoin led assists with 29. 

 

Brenton Romanchuk was awarded player of the game honours for the Tommies after recording seven kills and two digs. Raph Fiset led the team with 21 assists and six digs. 

 

The Dragons will represent the ACAA in the 2025 CCAA men's Volleyball championship which takes place on March 5-8 in Niverville, Man.