The Camosun Chargers men’s volleyball team is returning home today from the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association’s championship with its first-ever gold medal and tournament banner and the women’s team added a bronze for good measure.
Both experienced tournament bests.
The No. 1-seeded men defeated the No. 7 Limoilou Titans of Quebec 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 17-25, 25-20, 15-5) in Charlottetown, P.E.I., on Saturday night. The Chargers had previously won bronze medals in 2009 and 2003, but had never qualified for the championship final.
On Saturday they rebounded from down 1-2 in sets to bring home the hardware.
“The fourth set is when we started coming back. We just worked so hard for it and never stopped believing,” Camosun setter Vitor Macedo, who recorded the final point with a block and was also named player of the match, told the web broadcast crew afterward.
“We’ve had resiliency all year when we needed it,” said Chargers head coach Charles Parkinson, whose team defeated the defending champion Red Deer Kings in semifinals on Friday.
The Chargers women claimed their first medal in their first trip to nationals after defeating the Humber Hawks 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-18, 25-17) in Longueuil, Que., in the afternoon.
Third-year outside hitter Kathryn Fetting finished it off with the last kill for Camosun, one of 12 for her in the match, and fifth-year captain Hilary Graham was named player of the game in the bronze final with 10 kills and 12 digs.
“It feels very good,” coach Chris Dahl said via text.
“Navigating this tournament with injuries and illness was a challenge for the athletes.
“But they finished off a great season (25-5 overall) with a great effort.”
To qualify for the bronze game the Chargers shook off some demons in the morning, defeating the Vancouver Island Mariners 3-2 (25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 22-25, 15-10) after losing a similar match in the Pacwest championship two weeks earlier.
Up 2-0, this time the Chargers finished it off. It was the third straight time the two Island teams went to a fifth and deciding set as Camosun also won on home court to end the regular season.
mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com
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