CapU Blues Men's Volleyball Wins CCAA National Championship
The Blues defeated the Humber College Hawks of Etobicoke, Ont. Saturday night in straight sets (25-15, 25-18, 25-19).
Starting strong, CapU scored the first three points of the match and held leads of 11-5, 15-7 and 20-12 on the way to taking the first set. Ben Friesen notched four of his 10 kills on the night in the first.
It was more of the same in the second with Simon Friesen dealing two straight aces in between blocks from Leonard Tesarik, helping the Blues to a 6-1 lead.
Humber rallied to within a point as a result of three consecutive CapU errors but they were never able to even the score. Humber, who had not lost a match the entire season, never wound up leading at any point in the match.
The Hawks best chance to get ahead was at 5-5 in the third set but kills from Ben Friesen and Rafael Hilario plus an error from the Hawks put CapU back in the lead. Jacob Hopkins racked up five of his 12 kills on the night in the third set.
Fifth-year setter Simon Friesen had 35 assists and a season-high six aces while Hopkins led the Blues attack with 12 kills.The tournament was held at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B. This is the 15th national championship for CapU Blues Athletics and the first since the 2009-10 season.
Blues players were also recognized with tournament awards after the game.
Championship MVP
Simon Friesen (Abbotsford, B.C.)
First Team Championship All-Stars
Ben Friesen (Abbotsford, B.C.)
Rafael Hilario (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Second Team Championship All-Stars
Jacob Hopkins(Powell River, B.C.)
Submitted by: Brent Mutis, CapU Sport Information & Compliance Officer