Georgian's men's volleyball team was upset in straight sets on its home court thanks to Fanshawe's overpowering defence in Saturday's OCAA quarterfinal on Michele McConney Court.
The set-by-set score lines misrepresent how close the match felt. While the Grizzlies' largest deficit during the match was just six, Fanshawe was in full control all afternoon.
"Sometimes we were acting like we were down more than we were," Georgian middle Aidan Kenney said after the match. "We had chances where we could have fought back."
Georgian's gameplan was to neutralize Fanshawe's middles, but Kenney was outmatched by counterpart Jayden Crowther.
The Falcons began the match aggressively, seemingly stunning Georgian with powerful hits in the first few points, including a backcourt kill by Tanner Patterson.
Fanshawe had a 2-0 lead early in the first set, but it wasn't until 16-14 that either team took another multi-point lead. Georgian took the advantage with an ace by Devon Oliver, but he immediately gave the serve back to Fanshawe with a service error.
Following the error, Fanshawe retook the lead on a nifty net front volley by setter Silas Carr, and didn't trail for the remainder of the set, taking the closely contested frame 25-23. Tyler Gibson had three kills within the last six points, including on match point.
Similar to the first set, Fanshawe took an early multi-point lead in the second, except they didn't let Georgian equalize. The Grizzlies fell behind by four at 6-2, and didn't string together two points won until 9-6 when the tied the set on two Fanshaw violations and a block by Ryan Vriezema.
Both teams remained within one point of each other until Fanshawe took a 16-14 lead thanks to a flurry of kills by Jayden Crowther. Georgian eventually tied, but much like the first set, didn't trail for the remainder of set.
The Falcons' middle was their offensive focal point, especially in the second set when he made seven kills en route to a 25-23 finish.
"I had a hard time blocking their middles, they were really on us," Kenney said. "Once their middles were scoring, that really opened up their pins as well... that was definitely a game changer."
Fanshawe's composure seldom swayed, but as errors began to mount late, head coach Patrick Johnston called two timeouts within two points. Nonetheless, Gibson, who shanked a pass at 23-21 that prompted the first timeout, made the set-clinching kill.
Only in Georgian's two regular season matches against Seneca had they lost the first two sets.
Georgian head coach Reid Saxby says Fanshawe's advantage of strong middle play and tough blocking was very apparent.
"[The Falcons] block crosscourt very well, and my guys like to hit crosscourt," he said after the match. "So we needed to do something different to score more points."
That excellent blocking by Fanshawe plagued Georgian's comeback effort in the third set, but so did repeated service errors. Despite trailing just 13-10, the Grizzlies already had four missed serves and had been blocked by Crowther alone five times.
A furious kill and a well-placed deep volley by Patterson helped extend Fanshawe's third-set lead to a match-high six points at 18-13.
From there, the result was never in doubt, with the Falcons winning the final set 25-19.
A kill at 21-16 of the third by Carr off the head of Grizzlies libero Ethan Eiselt-Rolfe may have best represented how the match felt for Georgian: overpowered and undersized.
The loss was particularly heartbreaking for Vriezema, who was seen in tears after the match, consoled by friends.
"Four years of hard work, just can end in an instant," he said. "But, I don't regret any of it. I learned lots... and it's about the people that you meet along the way."
With Vriezema and Josiah Grimm being the only seniors moving on after the academic year, head coach Reid Saxby understands this loss represents a learning experience for next season.
"All year long we played our entire team. We had a deep bench," he says. "This is a rebuild year for us, so to be second in a division that's competitive is a win already."
"Hopefully, for the guys coming back next year, we take that to heart and really work on our game," said Kenney. "But, I think we should be proud of ourselves."
Georgian's men's team has never won an OCAA men's volleyball championship or played in a conference championship game.
UP NEXT
Fanshawe advances to face Loyalist or Cambrian next weekend in the OCAA semifinal round, hosted by Seneca.
This will be the fourth consecutive year Fanshawe will play in the conference semifinals.
OTHER SCORES
MEN
QUARTERFINAL
Redeemer def. Seneca 3-1 (25-20; 25-20; 19-25; 25-21, Friday)
MEN
QUARTERFINAL
Canadore-Humber, Saturday, 3 p.m.
MEN QUARTERFINAL Loyalist-Cambrian - Sunday, 1 p.m.
WOMEN
QUARTERFINAL
Seneca def. Redeemer 3-2 (25-23; 21-25; 25-15; 26-24; 15-10, Friday)
WOMEN
QUARTERFINAL
Humber def. Algonquin 3-0 (25-17, 27-25, 25-19)
WOMEN
QUARTERFINAL
Durham def. Cambrian 3-1 (13-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-23)
WOMEN QUARTERFINAL Canadore-St. Clair - Saturday, 7 p.m.
