With a win on Sunday afternoon (1:00 p.m.) against the visiting Loyalist Lancers (10-6), the Cambrian Shield men’s volleyball team would earn the right to host the OCAA Championship weekend for a second straight year.

But where the honour last year came as a result of the Humber Hawks sweeping both the men’s and women’s top seedings (Cambrian men hosted as the #2 seed in OCAA men’s rankings), it is the Shield who would enter as the top dogs this time around.

Posting a 13-3 record in regular season play in the formidable division that is the OCAA West, the Shield looked every bit of a gold medal contender last weekend in their cross-over match, comfortably disposing of the Fleming Phoenix, 25-15, 25-20, 25-13.

A well-balanced Cambrian attack featured timely contributions from Liam Hanson (16 kills), Cale Bast (9), Jason Diotte (8) and Ethan Wheatley (6) as the lads look forward to a chance to hopefully welcome the top four college men’s volleyball teams in the province to Sudbury on the following weekend.

While the Cambrian women also remained alive, their home matches are done after the squad that finished 12-4 swept aside the St Lawrence (Kingston) Surge 25-14, 25-9, 25-9. It is ironic that it is in fact the Shield that have been among the teams most surging, post-Christmas, winners of eight of their last ten matches to secure a cross-over home game.

The duo of Carlie Pappano and Jersey Masson paced the locals with 14 kills apiece, with first year middle Camille Barr adding five more. Cambrian will take to the road on Saturday to do battle with the Durham Lords (14-2) at 1:00 p.m. in Oshawa.