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Preview of the 2016 ACAA Men's and Women’s Volleyball Championships

February 22^nd, 2016 – The Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association’s top men’s and women’s volleyball teams are heading to the University of New Brunswick Saint John. The UNB Saint John Seawolves and Saint John, NB are set to host the 2016 ACAA Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Championship, February 26^th-28^th. All matches will be webcast on Bell Aliant TV1. For the complete schedule, latest results, news and photos, visit the tournament’s official website. Updates will also be available on Twitter and Facebook. Following Friday’s Quarterfinal matchups, the Championship Awards Banquet will be held at UNB Saint John’s Grand Hall. The ACAA All-Conference Players, Rookie of the Year, Libero of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Player of the Year will be honored at the gala.     Here are the first-round matchups:  

WOMEN

St. Thomas University Tommies (3) vs. University of King’s College Blue Devils (6)

The 3^rd ranked Tommies finished the regular season with a record of 12-9 in three-way tie with UNB Saint John and Mount Allison University. However, as they won the head to head tie break with both teams, they will face off against the 6^th ranked Blue Devils who finished the regular season with a record of 6-15. The Tommies have the advantage over the Blue Devils with a record of 2-1 against them.

UNB Saint John Seawolves (4) vs. Mount Allison University Mounties (5)

The Seaolves and Mounties finished the refular season in a 3-way tie with the St. Thomas tommies with a record of 12-9. After the tie-break, the Seawolves ended up in 4^th spot, while the Mounties finished in 5^th. This should be a very exciting game in the championship as the Seawolves and Mounties were neck and neck all season in the standings. The Seawolves have the upper edge on the Mounties heading into the 4 vs. 5 game as they have had three solid victories over the Mounties with scores of 3-1, 3-1 and 3-0. Mount St. Vincent University Mystics (1) with a regular reason record of 19-2 and the Holland College Hurricanes (2) with a regular season record of 18-3 will advance automatically to the Semi-Finals on Saturday and face off against the winners of Friday’s matches. The Mystics are currently ranked 10^th in Canada, while the Hurricanes are seeded 14^th in the country. Many are expecting the Mystics and the Hurricanes to make easy work of their semi-final matches to have a MSVU vs. HC final come Sunday, but as we have seen before in ACAA Championships, anything can happen and the banner is up for grabs!  

MEN

UNB Saint John Seawolves (1) vs. Universite Sainte Anne Dragons (4)

The host UNB Saint John Seawolves finished the regular season in 1^st place in the ACAA and ranked 9^th in the country. They are highly favoured heading into Saturday’s match-up with USA. The Seawolves finished with a record of 11-4, while the Dragons finished at 0-15. The Seawolves have swept the Dragons in regular season play 5-0. The Dragons will look to have strong defense and intelligent play at the net to try and upset the top seeded Seawolves.

St. Thomas Tommies (3) vs. Holland College Hurricanes (4)

The Tommies finished with a record of 10-5, edging out the Hurricanes who finished with a record of 9-6. This could be one of the most intense games of the weekend, as the head to head record of the two teams is 3-2 in favor of the Tommies, with a record of 1-1 against each other in the last weekend of regular season play. The Tommies will look to use their defensive skill and speed, while the Hurricanes will try to capitalize on their height advantage. This is certainly one of the hardest games to predict the outcome of, and the crowd will certainly be getting their money’s worth come Saturday night.    

Schedule:

Friday, Feb. 26

QUARTERFINALS

WOMEN #1 – STU (3) vs. UKC (6) 1:00 p.m.

WOMEN #2 – UNBSJ (4) vs. MTA (5) 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 27

SEMIFINALS

WOMEN #1 – MSVU (1) vs. Lowest Remaining Seed 11:00 a.m.

WOMEN #2 – HC (2) vs. Highest Remaining Seed 1:30 p.m.

MEN #1 – UNBSJ (1) vs. USA (4) 4:30 p.m.

MEN #1 – STU (2) vs. HC (3) 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 28

FINALS

WOMEN – 12:00 p.m.

MEN – 2:30 p.m.