The ACAA officially concluded its 2021-22 calendar with its Men's and Women's Basketball and Volleyball Championships, contested in a single-elimination format over the last week as opposed to the traditional format of a three-day championship.
All told, it was a banner weekend for the Mount St. Vincent University Mystics, who took three of the four championships up for grabs while the St. Thomas University Tommies claimed the other one.
Men's Basketball - (6) Mount St. Vincent 69, (2) St. Thomas 67
For the men's basketball Mystics, the ACAA chapter of the Cinderella story had a storybook ending.
In front of a lively Fredericton crowd on Sunday, the hometown Tommies jumped out to an early 17-5 lead, with Gayo Isaya accounting for eight of those points. However, the Mystics slowly clawed back, taking their first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter and hanging on through the end, with Dawson Berze-Butts making the game-winning layup with eight seconds remaining after a Vincent Lyttleton three-pointer tied the game at 67-67 just a few seconds earlier.
Mo Abukar led Mount St. Vincent with a game-high 17 points off the bench, while Will Spalding posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, Isaya paced the Tommies with 15 points, while Lyttleton posted a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
In knocking off the top three seeds after a play-in game, the Mystics claimed their first ACAA men's basketball crown since 2010-11, which was their last in a run of seven straight conference championships. Now, they will head to Humber College in Toronto for the CCAA Men's Basketball National Championship. Click here for the full game recap.
Women's Basketball - (1) Mount St. Vincent 72, (2) St. Thomas 67
In Halifax on Sunday, a similar story played out between the Mystics and Tommies, with St. Thomas getting out to an early 19-14 lead after one quarter, then hanging on to a 35-32 lead going into halftime.
However, the Mystics flipped the script in the third quarter, with ACAA Player of the Year Kelsey Crocker scoring 10 of her 23 points in the frame to put Mount St. Vincent up 56-49 going into the fourth. A quick 8-0 run to start the final quarter briefly put St. Thomas ahead once again, only for the Mystics to counter with a 9-0 run of their own to reclaim a lead they wouldn't relinquish despite the Tommies' best comeback efforts.
In addition to Crocker's output, which also included seven rebounds and three assists, Second Team All-Conference selection Alisha McNeil provided secondary scoring with 14 points and five rebounds. Meanwhile, three-time ACAA First Team All-Conference selection Vanessa Soffee led the Tommies with 18 points and seven rebounds, with Madison Owens adding 11 points of her own.
The victory makes it a three-peat for the Mystics, who have now booked tickets to Nanaimo, B.C., where Vancouver Island University will host the CCAA Women's Basketball National Championship.
Women's Volleyball - (2) Mount St. Vincent 3, (4) St. Thomas 0
A day earlier, on the same Halifax court, the Mystics reclaimed ACAA women's volleyball supremacy in a 25-20, 25-22, 25-18 win over a St. Thomas side that survived a pair of five-set matches to make the medal round.
Mount St. Vincent was much more efficient in its attacking, with a hitting percentage of .278 compared to the .144 percentage posted by the Tommies. Marcy MacNeil was a driving force behind the performance, finishing with a game-high 15 kills on 27 attempts, while also recording 14 digs. Hannah Huntley contributed eight kills of her own, while Madyson Parlee and Second Team All-Conference selection Nicole Rector had seven apiece.
For the Tommies, Chloe Little had eight kills and seven digs, while Second Team All-Conference selections Abby Lanteigne and Maddie MacGregor also contributed eight kills each.
Mount St. Vincent doesn't have far to go for the CCAA Women's Volleyball National Championship, as the Holland College Hurricanes will host in Charlottetown, where they will compete in a wildcard slot.
Men's Volleyball - (1) St. Thomas def. (2) Universite Sainte-Anne 2 matches to 0
In a new format for the ACAA, the men's volleyball gold medals were determined in a best-of-three series, with the Tommies taking a two-match sweep on home court in Fredericton, not dropping a set to the Dragons in the process.
On Friday, St. Thomas jumped out early and never looked back, posting 25-13, 25-13 and 25-23 set victories, while Saturday started off much tighter at 25-22, then ended with the Tommies taking identical 25-15 verdicts in the second and third sets.
Match 1 saw ACAA Player of the Year Gustavo Lobato pace the Tommies with 11 kills and seven aces, while All-Conference selection Christian Christie played a starring role in Match 2 with 14 kills. On the other side, All-Conference selection Alec Cottreau led the Dragons with nine kills in each match.
The Tommies will now head to Cegep Limoilou in Quebec for the CCAA Men's Volleyball National Championship. Click here for the full game recap.
For complete results of the ACAA Basketball Championships, please click here. For complete results from the ACAA Volleyball Championships, please click here.
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