He may be the ACAC’s all-time kills leader, but on the biggest point of the season, it was Carter Hansen’s defense that made the difference. Hansen’s block sealed the fate for the Lethbridge College Kodiaks who advance to the final of the Murray Chevrolet Cadillac ACAC Men’s Volleyball Championship with a 3-0 sweep of rival SAIT. The win came in front of a full and loud home crowd in Lethbridge’s Val Matteotti Gymnasium.

With the win, the Kodiaks clinch a berth to the CCAA national championships in Fredericton, N.B.

“It wasn't just our team on the floor tonight, every single Kodiaks athlete felt that win,” says Greg Gibos, Kodiaks head coach. “Every team was here to cheer and everyone was enjoying the moment. And it created one of the best atmospheres I think the country has probably had seen all year.”

Early on, the Trojans looked like they might send the home crowd home disappointed as they led for the majority of the first set and by as many as six points. But the Kodiaks chipped away and finally equalized the match at 20 points apiece, before going on to a 25-23 win. It was Hansen (fifth year, General Studies, Magrath) who started things off strong with seven kills and one block in the opening set, while his teammate Michael Hummel (fifth-year, General Studies, Picture Butte) contributed four kills. SAIT shared the offensive strength across their squad.

The Kodiaks rode that momentum into the second set as they took an early lead and never looked back in a 25-18 win. Twelve unforced errors by SAIT, many of them on the serve, cost them the set. The Kodiaks Quinn Buchanan (second year, General Studies, Lethbridge), a 6’3” middle hitter, had three kills and two blocks. SAIT’s Riley Grusing (third year, Civil Engineering, Calgary) led his team with three kills and two blocks.

The Kodiaks let SAIT back into the third set after Lethbridge had a five-point lead late in the game. Hansen led the Kodiaks in the third set with three kills and two blocks, including the deciding point. It was SAIT’s Jarett Noel (third year, Geographic Information Systems, Calgary) who led his team with three kills. SAIT had 13 errors and the Kodiaks had 10 to keep it interesting as the Kodiaks finally prevailed 27-25.

“We missed 25 serves, but we've beat this team when we've missed 25 serves,” said Trojans head coach Dallas Soonias. “So it's not the serves that we missed, it's that we didn't make enough of our serves in the first series. It's hard to push a team back when we're missing our first serves.”

SAIT’s Grusing has a game-high 12 kills, while Hansen had 11 to lead the Kodiaks.

“Nationals will be fun, but our mindset right now is totally on tomorrow's game,” said Hansen. “We want to win that battle to get the highest seed possible at nationals and also win a banner in this gym. I'm really excited for tomorrow.”

The Kodiaks now play in the ACAC championship game for the second-straight year, after a silver medal performance last season. They will take on the Red Deer College Kings in the championship at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Trojans will face Briercrest in the bronze medal game at 3 p.m.

Players of the game:

SAIT: Riley Grusing
Lethbridge: Carter Hansen