ACAC Men's Volleyball Championship Finals
by ACAC Sports Writer Curtis J. Phillips
It was only a few years ago, December 31, 2014 to be precise, that Regan Fathers thought his chances of playing collegiate volleyball in Canada had perhaps come to an end before it could even start.
A native of Australia, his flight had landed in Calgary, Alberta.
Recruited by Red Deer College Kings men's volleyball program, he was looking forward to pursuing the life of a student/athlete within the highly-competitive Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC).
A few Kings players were there at the airport to welcome him and transport him back to Red Deer.
It was discovered though, that his student visa did not have all of the I's and T's properly dotted.
So, instead of traveling up the highway to Red Deer with his new teammates, Fathers spent New Year's alone in a Calgary hotel, heading the next day to Los Angeles, California.
A few days later, he returned to Canada with the proper forms.
Well, fast forward to Saturday February 25, 2017 and Fathers, his I's and T's properly dotted, leads the Kings to the 2016-2017 ACAC Men's Volleyball Championships gold medal game.
In attendance were his mother and sister, having made the flight from their home of East Fremantle, Australia.
With the home court advantage, Fathers and the Kings took the five-set match 20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 17-25, 15-9 against the Medicine Hat College Rattlers.
Kings, defending ACAC Men's Volleyball Champions, final step towards repeating started at 3:36 p.m. in front of vocal crowd of Kings and Rattlers faithful.
A crowd, thanks in part to inflated green coloured thunder sticks, that kept the noise level high with a final burst at 5:33 p.m. when Fathers scored the winning and final point on a spike down the line.
"He was outstanding and we relied on him not only in the tournament but the entire season when we had some key injuries at various times," Kings head coach Aaron Schulha said of the 6-foot-6 right outside hitter, who had an impressive 26 kills and three service aces in the gold medal match; including eight kills in the final 15-9 set.
"Teams know that he is going to get a lot of volume but with his length, athleticism and pace, he is able to find a way to hit through or around."
Of the Rattlers, who were led by ACAC Volleyball Player of the Year Isak Helland-Hansen with 16 kills, Schulha said: "That is what you want in a conference final. Not an easy game but a game where the teams are evenly matched. It was a tough battle."
Kings have now won 18 ACAC Men's Volleyball banners. This was the seventh consecutive year-in-a-row the Kings were in the ACAC gold medal game.
Kings opened the tournament by beating the NAIT Ooks 26-24, 25-22, 22-25, 25-15.
Fathers had 17 kills and four service aces for the victors while Luke Brisbane had 39 assists.
In their semi-final, the Kings were matched up against the Keyano College Huskies, the No. 3 ranked team in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) polls and sporting a ACAC-top 22 matches won 2 matches lost 69 sets won 13 sets lost.
Kings, ranked No. 6 by the CCAA, upset the Fort McMurray-based school, 25-22, 25-20, 25-23.
Fathers once again had his game face on with 16 kills and four service aces.
"The semi-final was much closer than the score shows," said Schulha. "We knew it would be a tough match. It was the most complete match of the season for us."
Kings had met the Huskies in the 2015-2016 ACAC gold medal men's volleyball game held at NAIT, winning 25-19, 25-13, 17-25, 25-12
Rattlers, with a regular season record of 19 matches won 5 matches lost 64 sets won 24 sets lost, were matched up against the Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves (10 matches won 14 matches lost 41 sets won 49 sets lost) in their opening game Thursday.
Rattlers swept the Wolves 25-23, 25-18, 25-19 with a balanced attack as Joel Kotyk had nine kills and three service aces.
In the semi-finals the Rattlers needed to go the five-set distance 25-16, 25-19, 21-25, 19-25, 15-8 to edge the SAIT Trojans.
Kotyk had 17 kills with teammates Alfred Dalevik and Helland-Hansen, adding to the 53 kills total with 15 and 12 respectively.
Cole Sanderson, a 2016-2017 Men's South All-Conference Team selection, had an impressive 45 assists.
Helland-Hansen had also been named ACAC Men's Volleyball Player for 2015-2016.
The 2016-2017 CCAA Men's Volleyball Championships will be held March 8 - 11, 2017 at the Glenn Johnston Athletic Centre in London, Ontario and hosted by the Fanshaw College Falcons.
Both the Kings and Rattlers (as Wildcard team) will be in attendance.
Red Deer Kings are defending CCAA champion.
"We have no idea of the seeding or who we will play until Monday or Tuesday," said Schulha. "Then we start watching video. There will be a lot of quality first round matches."