Georgian's men's volleyball team was pushed to five sets in a tight OCAA round of 16 win on Michele McConney Court against St. Clair on Saturday afternoon.
It was the third time any of the team's matches required five sets all season, with the team's record on such dates.
St. Clair entered the playoffs after putting up the most points across the OCAA in the regular season (977), but struggled to string them together early.
The Grizzlies finished conference play 6-2 at home with their last loss coming November 11.
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The Saints felt the first set getting away from them with Georgian leading 13-9, which forced head coach Shawn Reume to call a timeout. The previous four points were all conceded on unforced errors, including outside hitter Kale Wilkinson awkwardly misplaying a serve near the ground well beyond the back line.
Unfortunately for St. Clair, timeouts didn't help their cause. The Grizzlies won 12 of the next 17 points en route to claiming the first set 25-14.
The second set was back-and-forth for the first 10 points before Georgian looked like it was pulling away, up three. However, St. Clair started to rally and went on a five-point run to take a two-point lead and force a Grizzlies timeout.
In stark contrast to their opponent in the first set, Georgian exited the timeout and won the next three points to re-take the lead. But St. Clair eventually went on a four-point run to force a set point up two and another Georgian timeout.
A service error by St. Clair's Nick Kwiatkowski gave Georgian a chance to force a deuce, but outside hitter Matt Babineau clinched the 25-23 set victory with a ferocious kill.
Each team alternated the first 14 points in the third set before Georgian went on a three-point run , capped off by an ace by Joey Grimm, the team's first of the match. The Grizzlies maintained a cushion or no more than three points until the Saints battled back to take a 22-21 lead.
Georgian eventually fended off one set point to force a deuce, part of a four-point run to win the set. 26-24. Outside hitter Colin Deighan, one of the conference's best servers in the regular season, came in off the bench to serve for the set.
Aiming to clinch the match, Georgian led by as many as four in the fourth set, but St. Clair matched each multi-point run the Grizzlies had and took the lead at 10-9.
With St. Clair up 15-13, Grizzlies head coach Reid Saxby switched setters, opting for John Michael Donnelly over Logan Underwood, but subbed Underwood back in at 18-16. The Saints never trailed for the remainder of the set, winning 25-22.
Ahead of the deciding fifth set, Georgian won the coin toss and elected to serve. The teams then traded the lead until the Grizzlies went on a run to go up 8-5 at the changeover.
The Grizzlies maintained a multi-point lead for the rest of the set and won it 15-9. The match ended on a service error by Saints substitution Sahil Bhardwaj.
Georgian hosted the match by earning the second-best record across the OCAA in the regular season (13-3). St. Clair was 8-8, finishing seventh in the West division.
In its program's history, Georgian has never won an OCAA men's volleyball championship or reached a conference championship game.
UP NEXT
Georgian advances to host Fanshawe next weekend in the quarterfinal round.
WOMEN
Georgian's women's volleyball team is in Hamilton on Saturday night for its round of 16 playoff match against Redeemer.
The Grizzlies' regular season record of 9-7 earned them fifth place in the OCAA East division. Meanwhile, the Royals finished fourth in the West division at 12-4.
Next weekend, the winner will face Seneca, which eliminated Mohawk in straight sets Saturday afternoon en route to the quarterfinals.
OTHER SCORES
MEN
ROUND OF 16
Seneca def. Niagara 3-0
MEN
ROUND OF 16
Algonquin-Redeemer - Saturday, 8:30 p.m.
MEN
ROUND OF 16
Humber def. Durham 3-0
MEN
ROUND OF 16
Conestoga-Canadore - Saturday, 7 p.m.
MEN
ROUND OF 16
Cambria def. Fleming 3-0
MEN
ROUND OF 16
Loyalist def. Mohawk 3-1
MEN
ROUND OF 16
Fanshawe def. George Brown 3-1
WOMEN
ROUND OF 16
Seneca def. Mohawk 3-0
WOMEN
ROUND OF 16
Humber def. George Brown 3-0
WOMEN
ROUND OF 16
Niagara-Algonquin - Sunday, 1 p.m.
WOMEN
ROUND OF 16
Centennial-St. Clair - Saturday, 2 p.m.
WOMEN
ROUND OF 16
Fanshawe-Canadore - Saturday, 5 p.m.
WOMEN
ROUND OF 16
Durham def. Conestoga 3-0
WOMEN
ROUND OF 16
Cambrian def. St. Lawrence (K) 3-0
