NIAGARA 3, GEORGIAN 1

BARRIE, Ont. - After another day of thrilling matches the gold medal final has been determined at 2014 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Men's Volleyball Championship hosted by Georgian College.

The first semi-final game featured the Mohawk Mountaineers and the Fanshawe Falcons in a classic match between two of the OCAA's elite. After Fanshawe took the first set 25-21 the Mountaineers rebounded with an impressive 26-24 win to even the score 1-1. With a large contingent of fans who travelled from Mohawk, the Mountaineers used that momentum to take the next two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-14 to take the match 3-1.

OCAA rookie of the year Bryce Marcussen was named player of the game for Mohawk with his 16 points while West Division scoring champion Mathieu Poulin showed exactly why he earned that title registering an incredible 23 kills for Fanshawe.

In the final match of the night the Humber Hawks put together an impressive performance over the Durham Lords sweeping them 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-10). Terrel Bramwell had 17 points to help put the Hawks in Saturday's gold medal match. Brad vanHartingsveldt had six points for the Lords who remain in contention for the bronze medal despite the loss.

This sets up the gold medal match between the Mohawk Mountaineers and the Humber Hawks which will take Saturday evening at 6 p.m. The Hawks defeated the Mountaineers in both regular season matches this year, 3-2 in the season opener on Oct. 23 and 3-0 on Feb. 12. Mohawk, who was the West Division's fourth seed coming into the championship, has taken their game to another level this weekend which should make for a historic match up on Saturday night.

The Mountaineers have medaled in each of the past three season's including silver last year and will be looking for their first men's volleyball gold since the 2007-08 season. The Humber Hawks won gold in three consecutive years from 2010 through 2012 but did not medal last year, something they will reverse on Saturday.

Earlier in the day the Niagara Knights dashed the hopes of the host Georgian Grizzlies ending their season after a 3-1 score (25-22, 25-12, 20-25, 25-13). Niagara's Daniel Groenveld had a team-high 21 points including 21 kills while Georgian's Lyndon Sonego was named his team's player of the game with 10 kills in his final match for the Grizzlies.

In the biggest comeback so far in the championship the Algonquin Thunder rebounded from a 2-0 deficit to keep their medal hopes alive by rallying to take three straight sets to defeat the George Brown Huskies 3-2 (21-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-12). Patrick Goulet was named player of the game for the Thunder with 23 points while D'Artaniel Jackman continued his strong tournament with 11 points for the Huskies.

The Niagara Knights will face the Fanshawe Falcons in the first semi-final for the bronze medal game while the Algonquin Thunder will meet the Durham Lords in the other contest on Saturday morning. The two winners will go on to face each other at 4 p.m. in the bronze medal match.

Championship Website: www.georgiancollege.ca/campus-life/athletics/2014-ocaa-mens-volleyball-championship/

Championship Webcast: www.ocaatv.com/members/ocaa2/

OCAA MEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Thursday, February 20
Quarter-Finals
Game 1 - Fanshawe 3, George Brown 0
Game 2 - Mohawk 3, Algonquin 0
Game 3 - Durham 3, Niagara 2
Game 4 - Humber 3, Georgian 0

Friday, February 21
Bronze Quarter-Finals
Game 5 - Algonquin 3, George Brown 2
Game 6 - Niagara 3, Georgian 1
Semi-Finals
Game 7 - Mohawk 3, Fanshawe 1
Game 8 - Humber 3, Durham 0

Saturday, February 22
Bronze Semi-Finals
Game 9 - Fanshawe vs. Niagara - 9 a.m.
Game 10 - Durham vs. Algonquin - 11 a.m.
Bronze Medal Match
Game 11 - Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 - 4 p.m.
Winning team presented OCAA Bronze Medal at conclusion of match
Gold Medal Match
Game 12 - Mohawk vs. Humber - 6 p.m.
OCAA Gold and Silver Medals presented at conclusion of match

Source: Georgian College