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The 25-year wait is over: Trojans trump Clippers for ACAC men’s volleyball crown
CALGARY — Lucas Jacobson was a moving target Sunday afternoon. But as the SAIT Trojans will joyously attest, the hunters soon became the hunted.
Jacobson, for his defensive grace under pressure, was named SAIT’s man of the match as the Trojans won their first Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference men’s volleyball championship in 25 years, downing the Briercrest College Clippers of Caronport, Sask., 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19) in the provincial gold-medal final at the SAIT Campus Centre gym.
“I’m drained right now,” grinned Jacobson, a second-year outside hitter and SAIT administration information management student from Sherwood Park, Alta. “I guess I was the serving target tonight, and they never failed to serve to me . . . and I love that. The more they get me in the game, I feel, the better I am.
“I haven’t been very consistent, passing-wise, this year. I’ll be the first guy to admit that,” added Jacobson, who passed an astonishing 63 balls Sunday. “But that’s the greatest feeling in the world, when guys are serving to you, and you’re passing nothing but three-balls (perfect passes). I think that’s better than getting kills.”
Jacobson did also contribute nine kills at the net, along with nine defensive digs and three service aces, as the Trojans advance to the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championship tournament at Edmonton’s Grant MacEwan University, from March 11 to 13, as Alberta champions.
“Lucas was unreal. They served pretty much every ball to him, and he had to stay focused and pass balls, and still swing,” praised third-year Trojans head coach Ryan Marsden. “Look at him over there. He’s ready to die, because he’s so tired. But what he did was pretty miraculous.”
SAIT’s net monster Kenny Rauwerda (2nd-year power hitter, Acme, Alta., chemical engineering technology), the ACAC’s undisputed kills leader and an ACAC first-team all-star, rammed home 24 balls, 16 of those kills coming in the first two sets.
Tyler Blank (4th-year libero, Calgary, management) dug 11 balls, while co-captain Devon Van Nistelrooy (2nd-year left-side, Picture Butte, Alta., business administration) produced 10 digs.
As they did during a 3-0 sweep of the MacEwan Griffins in a Saturday semifinal, the Trojans played with high energy.
“They were super-intense, but not out-of-control intense,” said Marsden. “I know Devon isn’t going to have a voice tonight. For a guy who’s usually very quiet, he was so loud today and yesterday. Tyler Blank? When he has things to say, he shakes the earth. And the guys listened to it.”
The Clippers have been ACAC bridesmaids three times now, after previously appearing in the provincial final in 2007-08 and 1999-2000.
As for the Trojans, their quarter-century wait is over. Sunday marked their seventh trip to the ACAC final, but first win since the spring of 1985 . . . and finally allows some closure for those involved with SAIT’s oh-so-close squads of just under a decade ago.
Current assistant coaches Andy Hayher and Blake Chalmers played, and then coached, for the Trojan teams that lost three straight ACAC gold-medal games to the Red Deer College Kings in 2000-01, ’01-02, and ’02-03. The Men of Troy also lost the national final to the Kings in each of those last two campaigns in question.
“This program has been so close, so many times. To finally get over the top is unbelievable,” said Hayher. “The sense of urgency these guys showed today was something I hadn’t seen all year. They had that hunger, that desire . . . they just wanted it that bad.”
Marsden’s men had earned the right to host ACAC provincials by winning the South Division pennant in the first half with an 8-2 record, but stumbled at times in the elite, second-half Provincial Division, finishing at 5-5 and entering the ACAC tournament as the No. 4 seed among eight teams.
“This is awesome for this group, especially with how we struggled down the stretch,” said Hayher. “We played good volleyball, but we were still losing those matches. For these guys to put two matches like this together . . . last night’s (semifinal) and the match tonight were our two best efforts of the year.”
Fifth-year middle and co-captain Dustin Fox, a SAIT radio, television and broadcast news student, couldn’t have written a better script for the end of his college volleyball career – unless it involves the school’s first national title in two weeks’ time.
“Marsie kind of alluded to (the fact that SAIT hadn’t won the ACAC crown in 25 years) during one of our time-outs, and that’s huge,” said Fox, who’s spent two of his five ACAC seasons with SAIT. “My main goal, ever since committing to coming here, was to win a provincial championship and get to the national final.
“Step 1’s done. Now we’ve got a little bit more to go. But we’re just going to bask in it right now, that’s for sure.”
Sunday's Results
(at SAIT Campus Centre gym)
Gold-medal final: SAIT Trojans 3 Briercrest College Clippers 1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19)
(Trojans win first ACAC men's volleyball title since 1984-85, and advance to CCAA nationals at Grant MacEwan University from March 11 to 13)
Bronze-medal match: Grant MacEwan University Griffins 3 Mount Royal University Cougars 1 (25-17, 25-21, 17-25, 25-16)
Fifth-place match: Red Deer College Kings 3 Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves 1 (25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23)
Seventh-place match: Lethbridge College Kodiaks 3 King's University College Eagles 0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-19)
Saturday's Results
(at SAIT Campus Centre gym)
Championship Semifinals
Briercrest 3 MRU 1 (25-20, 25-21, 20-25, 25-18)
SAIT 3 MacEwan 0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-22)
Consolation Semifinals
Grande Prairie 3 King's 1 (28-26, 31-29, 12-25, 25-22)
Red Deer 3 Lethbridge 0 (28-26, 25-15, 26-24)
Friday’s Quarterfinal Results
(at Mount Royal University)
Briercrest 3 Grande Prairie 0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-18)
MacEwan 3 Red Deer 1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-23, 25-19)
SAIT 3 Lethbridge 2 (25-18, 22-25, 25-23, 14-25, 16-14)
MRU 3 King's (25-16, 25-13, 25-10)
