CCAA Men's Volleyball
After making its third straight appearance on the national stage, the Mohawk men's volleyball team stood on the podium for the first time. The Mountaineers won the Bronze Medal at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association Championship downing the Limoilou Titans of Quebec City 25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 25-18 at Humber College in Etobicoke March 9.
The fourth seeded Titans, who had 17 national men's volleyball medals going into the 30th anniversary event, had to settle for fourth place after losing twice to fifth-ranked Mohawk in the championship.
The Mountaineers put pressure on Limoilou, getting off to quick starts in all four sets of their bronze medal match. Mohawk player of the match Jasmin Cull had 28 points from 27 kills and one ace. Steve Pawelczyk added 12 kills. But for Cull, it ended an incredible week. The night prior to the championship, he was named the CCAA Men's Volleyball National Player of the Year. At the conclusion of the championship Cull, along with teammate Peter Sniuolis, were named to the event's First All-Star Team.
The Mountaineers beat Limoilou to open play March 7. The scores were 25-16, 28-26, 19-25, 25-22. Cull had 19 kills, two blocks and one ace.
Pawelczyk, named Mohawk's player of the match, came through with 15 kills, two blocks and three aces. But the Mountaineers had their hopes for a gold medal end the next night when they got off to a good start, but bowed to number one seed Mount Royal of Calgary. The Cougars won 24-26, 25-22, 25-15, 27-25. Cull was his team's best player with 32 points, including 27 kills, two blocks and three aces. Kevin Watson scored 10 points and Pawelczyk contributed nine. Mohawk then had to regroup and make a bid for the bronze. To do that, they first had to down the third seeded Malaspina Mariners of Nanaimo B.C. The Mountaineers rallied for a 24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20 decision. Cull scored 26 points and Watson had 12, but the top player for Mohawk was their great setter Sniuolis, who did an outstanding job distributing the ball for his team's big hitters. That put the Mountaineers into their successful Bronze Medal contest.
The Gold Medal went to Mount Royal as the Cougars swept the UBC Okanagan Lakers of Kelowna B.C. in the final.
But the third place finish by Mohawk was an outstanding effort and Cull proved he was the best player in Canadian college volleyball. He scored 108 points for the championship, 18 more than his closest rival. His total included 94 kills, 24 ahead of the next best total. He also had nine aces and five blocks.
PLUS... Mohawk's Jasmin Cull is the best in the country!