Hawks complete sweep of Cambrian Golden Shield despite key injuries

Jacob Phillips, Sports Reporter

Humber Hawks women’s volleyball team was able to complete its sweep of the Cambrian Golden Shield despite injuries to three of their key players.

Middle Blocker Alex Krstonosic has been on sidelines since Jan. 10, while Trinity Lougheed, also a middle blocker was injured Jan. 16. Outside Hitter Hayley Henderson has been on the injured list since Jan. 26.

Despite these injuries the Hawks have gone 5-1 with each of their five wins being sweeps and their only loss being a close five-game set against the St. Clair Saints.

Leading scorer for the Hawks was Left Side Julia Watson with eight kills and three digs, while rookie Middle Blocker Aideena Wickstrom was Hawk Nation Player of the Game.

Wickstrom had five kills and two service aces against the Cambrian Golden Shield on Sunday and received her first Hawk Nation Player of the Game.

Wickstrom was inserted into the starting role after the injuries to Krstonosic and Lougheed and has excelled in her starting role despite the pressure.

She said she’s grateful for the opportunity and showcased her abilities to the team and hopefully keep her starting role.

“I’ve been calling for everything and I’ve just been hitting the ball as hard as I can,” Wickstrom said. “I’ve just been able to showcase the best of my abilities.

“The injuries have caused us to work harder both in practice and games. We’ve done more workouts than usual and we’ve just been grinding,” she said.

Golden Shield head coach Dale Beausoleil praised the Hawks that despite the injuries, Humber is still a team that shouldn’t be underestimate. 

“When you play Humber you’re facing an extremely talented team that is strong, well-coached, defensively sound, excellent servers, and they we’re able to capitalize on our mistakes,” he said.

Golden Shield’s assistant coach Kevin Wiseman said Humber was able to pull away despite the challenge put on by Cambrian.

“Each game was close and very even with a lot of back and forth early on, but Humber was able to go on these runs to pull ahead,” Wiseman said.

The Hawks dominated the Golden Shield winning the first two sets 25-16, and 25-20 in the third set after stopping Cambrian’s Golden Shield comeback attempt.

Hawks women’s volleyball head coach Chris Wilkins said the team has been strong offensively in the past six games, but it needs to shore up its defence.

“We’ve been playing pretty well offensively but defensively we’ve been slipping,” he said. “The injuries have been catching up with us. Hopefully, we will be ready for next week against Fanshawe.” 

The Humber Hawks will hope to deliver the undefeated Falcons its first loss at Fanshawe College on Feb. 2 after a controversial non-call gave Fanshawe the win on Nov. 24.