Volleyball teams look to spike competition
Last week brought the first test
of adversity for the Fanshawe
Falcons men's team. After opening
the season with four impressive
victories, dropping only one set to
start season, the men finally
dropped a heartbreaking five set
match to Redeemer College. After
dropping the opening two sets, 25-
19 and 26-24, Fanshawe mounted
a comeback by taking the following
set 25-18 and looked to be in
control of the match when they
won the fourth set 25-17 to force a
fifth and final deciding set. While
Fanshawe was able to stick with
Redeemer in the final set, they
weren't able to hang on in the end
and lost 19-17.
London native and fourth-year veteran Derek Howes said the team took the loss seriously and plan to use the defeat as motivation for the rest of the season. "We take that 19-17 loss in the fifth set to heart, and we strive to do our best after that, what we said back in the change room after that loss that we we're going to take that 19-17 loss and just think about that every time we're playing our opponents." Howes, a graduate of the recreation and leisure program, returned to Fanshawe this year for police foundations.
Following the loss to Redeemer, the Falcons travelled to Toronto for the Humber Cup Tournament. The Humber Cup has established itself as being one of the top tournaments in Ontario, with many of the cup champions carrying their success onto Ontario Colleges Athletic Association titles, with only two teams in the past seven years failing to do so. After sweeping through their round robin play with straight set victories over Loyalist, Georgian, Cambrian and Durham, the men once again only needed two sets to dismantle Mohawk with the score of 25-16 in both sets in Saturday's semi-final.
With the semi-final victory, the men were right back on the court to face the hosting Humber Hawks in the final. After a long two days of tournament play, Fanshawe came up short in their second heartbreaking loss of the week, falling in two very competitive sets 25-21 and 27-25. The Falcons are hoping that the recent success of Humber Cup champions doesn't continue as they will have to upend the Humber Hawks at some point. If the tournament final is any indication, the Falcons are up to the challenge.
Head coach Josh Westgate said the team's talent has been a contributing factor in the early season success. "We do have a lot of talent, a lot of returning guys back from last year and some key recruits that came in, so our expectations are really high, unfortunately we let one slip away against Redeemer which was a good learning experience for us." Westgate did add that while he thinks the team has been playing well, there is room for improvement. "It's still early in the season but we're still making a lot of errors so we're going to have to work on our consistency, just doing the simple things well."
When asked what players he thought would stand out this year, he was quick to mention Andrew Thorpe, who transferred to Fanshawe to complete a post graduate certificate from the University of Waterloo. Westgate said Thorpe's experience from the Ontario University Athletics division has had a huge influence on the younger players. Westgate also mentioned University of Western Ontario transfer Demetri Kantzos as well as some key veteran returning players like Howes, as standouts for the rest of the season.
The Falcons travelled to Mohawk College this past Wednesday, and are on the road again next week to play against Niagara before returning home on Wednesday, November 24 at 8 p.m. when they will have a chance to redeem their Humber Cup loss to the Humber Hawks.
Not to be forgotten is the women's volleyball team, who has been experiencing its own early season success. After dropping their first match of the season to Nipissing College last Sunday, the women returned to their winning ways by battling Redeemer College to a five set. After taking the opening two sets 25-19, the Falcons let Redeemer back into the match by dropping the following two sets 25-23, and 25-18. With momentum and adversity stacked against them, the girls dug deep and fought back to take the fifth and deciding set 15-10.
Following their big win over Redeemer, the women played in the Humber Cup. After battling their way through the round robin with a 4-0 record, the women fell in a three set match to Humber in the semi final by scores of 25-22, 25-18 and 15-9. The women will get a chance to avenge the loss, when they host Humber at home on Wednesday, November 24 at 6 p.m.
Both the Fanshawe men and women were represented on the Humber Cup All-Star teams with Stacey Thomas on the women's side, Andrew Thorpe and Jordan Westman represented Fanshawe on the men's side.
London native and fourth-year veteran Derek Howes said the team took the loss seriously and plan to use the defeat as motivation for the rest of the season. "We take that 19-17 loss in the fifth set to heart, and we strive to do our best after that, what we said back in the change room after that loss that we we're going to take that 19-17 loss and just think about that every time we're playing our opponents." Howes, a graduate of the recreation and leisure program, returned to Fanshawe this year for police foundations.
Following the loss to Redeemer, the Falcons travelled to Toronto for the Humber Cup Tournament. The Humber Cup has established itself as being one of the top tournaments in Ontario, with many of the cup champions carrying their success onto Ontario Colleges Athletic Association titles, with only two teams in the past seven years failing to do so. After sweeping through their round robin play with straight set victories over Loyalist, Georgian, Cambrian and Durham, the men once again only needed two sets to dismantle Mohawk with the score of 25-16 in both sets in Saturday's semi-final.
With the semi-final victory, the men were right back on the court to face the hosting Humber Hawks in the final. After a long two days of tournament play, Fanshawe came up short in their second heartbreaking loss of the week, falling in two very competitive sets 25-21 and 27-25. The Falcons are hoping that the recent success of Humber Cup champions doesn't continue as they will have to upend the Humber Hawks at some point. If the tournament final is any indication, the Falcons are up to the challenge.
Head coach Josh Westgate said the team's talent has been a contributing factor in the early season success. "We do have a lot of talent, a lot of returning guys back from last year and some key recruits that came in, so our expectations are really high, unfortunately we let one slip away against Redeemer which was a good learning experience for us." Westgate did add that while he thinks the team has been playing well, there is room for improvement. "It's still early in the season but we're still making a lot of errors so we're going to have to work on our consistency, just doing the simple things well."
When asked what players he thought would stand out this year, he was quick to mention Andrew Thorpe, who transferred to Fanshawe to complete a post graduate certificate from the University of Waterloo. Westgate said Thorpe's experience from the Ontario University Athletics division has had a huge influence on the younger players. Westgate also mentioned University of Western Ontario transfer Demetri Kantzos as well as some key veteran returning players like Howes, as standouts for the rest of the season.
The Falcons travelled to Mohawk College this past Wednesday, and are on the road again next week to play against Niagara before returning home on Wednesday, November 24 at 8 p.m. when they will have a chance to redeem their Humber Cup loss to the Humber Hawks.
Not to be forgotten is the women's volleyball team, who has been experiencing its own early season success. After dropping their first match of the season to Nipissing College last Sunday, the women returned to their winning ways by battling Redeemer College to a five set. After taking the opening two sets 25-19, the Falcons let Redeemer back into the match by dropping the following two sets 25-23, and 25-18. With momentum and adversity stacked against them, the girls dug deep and fought back to take the fifth and deciding set 15-10.
Following their big win over Redeemer, the women played in the Humber Cup. After battling their way through the round robin with a 4-0 record, the women fell in a three set match to Humber in the semi final by scores of 25-22, 25-18 and 15-9. The women will get a chance to avenge the loss, when they host Humber at home on Wednesday, November 24 at 6 p.m.
Both the Fanshawe men and women were represented on the Humber Cup All-Star teams with Stacey Thomas on the women's side, Andrew Thorpe and Jordan Westman represented Fanshawe on the men's side.
