Dale Beausoleil is not one to make excuses.

"We just didn't have our A+ game against them - and we needed that A+ game to beat them," noted the head coach of the Cambrian Shield men's volleyball team, a few days removed from dropping a 19-25, 19-25, 20-25 OCAA final to the Humber Hawks.

His team, however, was nothing if not banged up and bruised following an epic semi-final encounter one night earlier in which the regular season champs (13-3) who entered the four-team provincials as the top seed rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Fanshawe Falcons 22-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-15, 15-11.

Did we mention that in capturing the OCAA banner, that Humber (11-5) became the first program in more than 30 years to capture the playoff crown in six consecutive years.

Given everything involved, one can understand the reasons for the pride that coach Beausoleil feels about his back to back silver medal winning squad - especially given their performance on Friday night in front of a packed energetic gymnasium full of supporters.

"In those first two sets, we were down right away," said Beausoleil. "But then we were able to have better starts - and with the better starts, it just seemed that we got our confidence."

"We played with confidence those last three sets, with the belief that we were going to win. You could see it in their eyes that they wanted it so bad."

In the meantime, Humber disposed of the Seneca Sting in four sets (19-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-22), setting up a rematch of the 2025 OCAA gold medal encounter.

The Hawks, apparently, were more than ready for a date with history.

"That was the best I have seen Humber play this year," conceded Beausoleil. "I thought they played outstanding."

Paced by Brazilian import Enzo Endres (19 kills) and 2025-2026 league MVP Teyven Blackmore (17), Humber was just that much better than a Cambrian side that fought valiently til the end.

Local product Cale Bast topped the scoring parade for the Shield with nine kills, with Liam Hansen (7), Jason Diotte (6), Ethan Wheatley (4) and Kyle Perreault (4) all in his wake as setter and Lockerby Composite graduate Sam George amassed 27 assists to go along with three kills.

In the end, coach Beausoleil knew that his lads had given it all that they had.

"When I looked at my team this year, I saw a team that I knew could be right there," said the man who was named West Division Coach of the Year - once again. "Exactly where, I didn't know at the beginning of the year; but I knew we could compete."

"I knew that we were in the mix and we just had to learn to play consistent ball."

Blessed with the deepest rosters seen in these parts in quite some time, Beausoleil had created an environment where the intensity of game settings in a West division that again produced a sweep of the podium (Fanshawe won bronze) could be mimicked in the week leading into the games.

"I felt that this year, our six on six (drill in workouts) was extremely competitive," he said. "We had to be good all the time in practice which then carried into our matches."

And with incredible backing from both the college and local volleyball community - "the fans were absolutely incredible; such a fun environment to be part of" - the stage was set for Cambrian to garner some hardware for a fourth consecutive year (bronze in 2022-2023 & 2023-2024; silver in 2024-2025 & 2025-2026).