(Photo Credit: Greg Ellison)
(Writer's Note: The scenarios considered below are in place with every game on the Return to Play schedule getting nominated. If that does not happen, final standings will be determined by winning percentage.)
The pace of play has been frantic in the ACAA's Return to Play, but there is a bit more clarity as we head into the final week of regular season play, with a total of seven games to be played before shifting into the modified playoff format for this season.
Regardless of how things shake out this week, the road to gold in the ACAA will be paved through Charlottetown, as the Holland College Hurricanes (12-1, #8 in CCAA) have locked up home court advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Mount St. Vincent University Mystics (10-3) have also clinched the right to host at least one home game, while the St. Thomas University Tommies (9-3) and the Mount Allison University Mounties (9-4) are also knocking on the door, with one more win clinching a home game for both squads.
However, with three matches this week beginning tonight against the University of King's College Blue Devils, the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus Rams (6-5) could force their way into the conversation, as they also face the two teams directly ahead of them in the Tommies (Mar. 4, 7 p.m.) and the Mounties (Mar. 5, 2 p.m.)
There is a scenario in which the Mounties, Rams, and Tommies could all finish the regular season with identical 9-5 records, in which case head-to-head records would be applied in matches between the three teams leading to the Rams (2-1 in the head-to-heads) taking the third seed ahead of the Mounties (2-2), who would slot into fourth ahead of the fifth-seeded Tommies (1-2).
Conversely, a three-loss week could send the Rams down as far as seventh, as UKC would hold the tiebreaker between the two sides since tonight is their lone match of the season due to the ACAA's truncated Return to Play schedule. Meanwhile, a one or two-win week would lock the Rams into the ACAA's fifth seed, ahead of the Blue Devils and the UNB Saint John Seawolves (5-8).
The Crandall University Chargers (1-12) and Universite Sainte-Anne Dragons (1-12) will square off in Sunday's play-in game to determine who will travel to Charlottetown for the quarterfinals, though the venue for the play-in game is still to be determined. If the teams remain tied at the end of the regular season, the Chargers would host the play-in game on account of having a better ratio of sets won and lost against all ACAA competition over the course of the season.
The ACAA Women's Volleyball Championship quarterfinals will take place on March 8, with the semifinals being played on March 10 at the home of the better seed. The final will be played on March 12 at the home of the higher seed, and if Holland College reaches the final, the other finalist will have qualified for the 2022 CCAA Women's Volleyball National Championship, as the Hurricanes are the tournament host.
This is the first in a four-part series looking at where things stand in the ACAA in the final week of the regular seasons in both basketball and volleyball. The men's volleyball playoff picture will be released on Wednesday, while the articles on both men's and women's basketball will be released on Thursday.