The St. Thomas University (STU) Tommies were the first team to achieve victory at the 2025 ACAA Volleyball Championships, taking down the hosting Holland College Hurricanes 3-1 in quarterfinal action on Friday afternoon in front of a big crowd at the McMillan Centre for Community Engagement.
As much as the Hurricanes fought to make a statement with a home crowd advantage and a veteran core consisting of former champions, the Tommies were far superior in remaining composed, coordinating well together, and responding to Holland's attacks.
The Tommies couldn't have asked for a better start to the championships, jumping out to 5-0, 13-5, and 20-11 leads in the first set. During that time, the Hurricanes were forced to call two timeouts. Despite flashes of brilliance and having a loud fan base behind them, Holland couldn't find the momentum they needed, allowing STU to pull away and win the set 25-13.
The Hurricanes battled back early in set two with incredible resilience, pulling ahead 6-1 before a Tommies timeout. They continued to lead the way throughout the rest of the set but STU didn't let them pull too far ahead, keeping things about five to seven points close on average. At a 21-14 Holland lead, the Tommies called another timeout. Unfortunately, that didn't do the trick, and the Hurricanes won the set off a lethal kill by Myah Utrosa.
After exchanging the first two sets, both teams waged an all-out war in set three with points fired back and forth, intensifying the atmosphere to an all-time high and keeping fans on the edge of their seats. As each team entered double digits, the Tommies slowly gained control of the match, going on a four-point run after an 11-9 lead. Hurricanes head coach Craig Hoskins called a timeout to reset his team and calm their nerves. Although STU initially pulled further ahead afterward, a pile of errors led to Holland closing the gap to one point, forcing the Tommies to call a timeout while up 19-18. A three-point run by STU led to a Hurricanes timeout. As much as Holland tried to overtake STU, a series of attack errors and Tommies kills did them in, giving the Tommies a 25-21 set win and a 2-1 game lead.
STU's late-set dominance continued into the fourth set as they jumped to 4-0 and 7-2 leads. Although the Hurricanes found some brief momentum and were down by one at one point (9-8), the Tommies refused to give up their lead knowing they were one set win away from a semifinal berth. Holland called a timeout while down by five at 20-15 and another at 22-15, but by then it was too late to keep themselves alive. STU ultimately won the set 25-16 and the game 3-1, clinching a spot in Saturday's semifinals.
Kathleen Boyle was awarded Tommies Player of the Game honours after recording 13 kills, 14 digs, one assist, and two rebounds. Megan MacDonald added 12 kills, 10 digs, and four service aces, and Brooke Thompson contributed 21 digs and two assists. Jenna Murphy led the assist category with 32.
Charlotte Sweetapple earned Hurricanes Player of the Game honours with 12 kills, 15 digs, and one assist. Morgan White and Jenna O'Neill combined for 14 kills, 18 digs, one assist, and three block assists. Marissa O'Donnell led the assist category with 21.
As the highest remaining seed, the Tommies will play the second-seed UNBSJ Seawolves on Saturday at 3 p.m. for a spot in Sunday's championship match. STU went 1-2 against UNBSJ during the regular season, winning the most recent game 3-1 on Feb. 9 in Fredericton, N.B.