Royals enter Christmas break with a pair of wins and a trio of awards

In thrilling fashion, both men's and women's volleyball teams defeated Fanshawe College Friday night and will enter the break with a pair of wins. Both teams were taken to a 5th and deciding game with both men's and women's teams able to put their opponents away 3-2.

For the Lady Royals, they grabbed a much needed win to keep them in the playoff hunt. After dropping the first game 27-25, the ladies stormed back to take the next two by the scores 25-19 and 25-16. In the fourth, the Royals seemed to lose focus and were dominated 25-12. However, determined not to let it slip away, the women came out firing in the 5th and with stellar offensive performances by Erika Straatsma and Helena Stronks were able to take the game 15-12. The Royals record now improves to 4-6 going into the Christmas Break.

On the men's side, the Royals also grabbed a necessary win to keep them at the top of the West division standings. After Friday nights victory, the Men's team currently sits tied for first place in the West with division rivals Mohawk College. Both teams sit at 7-1. The men's game played out a little differently than the women's as the men came out of the gate flying and backed by a very loud home crowd were able to go up 2-0 with scores 25-19 and 25-19. Fanshawe was not willing to sit back however and took the next two games 25-18 and 25-22 and taking the crowd out of it as they evened things up at 2-2. But, like Tuesday's game against Humber, the Royals dug deep and were able to switch momentum back and took the 5th game 15-11 and the match 3-2.

For their 2-0 week with enourmous victories against Humber College and Fanshawe College, the Royals men's volleyball teams was named the OCAA team of the week. Both Ryan Talsma and Erika Straatsma were also honored as the male and female OCAA athletes of the week for their performances against Humber and Fanshawe. Ryan had 39 kills in the two games and 44 total offensive points while Erika had 21 kills and 22 total offensive points. This is the first time the Royals have swept the OCAA athletes of the week awards!