Warriors outlast Gaels to claim OUA bronze and CIS championship berth

The drive from Waterloo to Hamilton is nothing special.

It's the kind of drive that you could do in your sleep, which is an exaggeration, but not much of one. From Highway 7/8 East to the 401 East to 6 south, everything looks the same. The only real difference is how wide each highway is; it's easy to forget how much progress you've made until you count the lanes of traffic (also, a viable option for keeping oneself awake). The drive from Waterloo to Hamilton isn't long, it only feels that way.

It's also a trip that would help define the Waterloo Warriors men's volleyball team on Friday night, as they took on the Queen's Gaels in the OUA Bronze Medal match at McMaster's Burridge Gym in Hamilton. And after falling behind two sets to one, it looked like their return trek along those familiar roads would be both devastating and final – a season ended, a darkened bus, and even darker moods. But two nailbiting sets and one emotional comeback later, the Warriors earned a mammoth victory and at least one more trip to Hamilton – this time, with a chance at a CIS national championship.

Waterloo claimed the OUA Bronze with a heart-stopping five-set victory (24-26, 25-17, 16-25, 25-23, 15-12), earning the third and final OUA berth in next weekend's CIS championships hosted by McMaster. The comeback caps a roller-coaster season for the Warriors, which saw them stripped of four wins due to the use of an ineligible player in the fall, before rattling off a second-half record of 8-1 to climb back into OUA contention.

First-team OUA All-Star Braden Cok(Waterloo) was nearly unstoppable, registering an absurd 23 kills in the match – while committing only 5 errors at the net. Fifth-year veteran and fellow all-star Erich Woolley (New Dundee) added 12 digs, and Gibson Graham (Markham) contributed with 51 assists.

But it was a total team effort for the black and gold, who earned their second straight trip to the CIS Championships. Aidan Simone (London) fought through some struggles at the net to earn 16 kills. Greg Simone (London) notched a pair of service aces and 10 kills. And, Jordan McConkey(Stratford) added 9 kills, 2 solo blocks, and 5 assisted blocks, good for 13.5 points. In what was Waterloo head coach Chris Lawson's final game at the OUA level, his players sent him out with a bang.

For the Gaels, the dark drive home will be along a different route, but it will be just as dark as Waterloo's could have been. Queen's got inspired efforts from Marko Dakic (19 kills) and Mike Tomlinson (25 points), but they were unable to close out the match when presented with the opportunity. It was a Jekyll and Hyde night for the Gaels, and the doctor turned into the monster at the worst possible time.

The version of the Gaels that started the match looked equipped to end Waterloo's season quietly. After a tight 26-24 win in the opening set and a 25-17 loss in the second, the Gaels registered 16 kills and only three errors in the third frame, putting them on the brink of victory.

But the tri-colour's efficiency left them at the most inopportune of times. Of their 25 net errors in the match, the Gaels committed 13 of them in the final two sets. Their team hitting percentage fell to a dreadful .113 in the fourth and fifth sets, while Waterloo found their stride at the exact time the Gaels were losing theirs.

But despite the struggles, the Gaels were in the match until the bitter end. The tipping point wasn't until late in the fifth set, when McConkey and Cok teamed up for a massive block to cap a long rally and put the Warriors ahead 14-11 in the decisive set. One Gaels point later, Cok threw down a kill that was returned into the rafters, sending the Waterloo faithful into a frenzy.

The black and gold army can now look forward to packing more busses full of rabid fans, hungry to witness the first men's volleyball title in school history. And the Warriors, who have navigated just about every twist a season could throw at them, are anxious to head back to Hamilton next weekend and deliver a banner.

Boy, wouldn't that make the drive back to Waterloo much more special.