‘Why not medal?’: St. Clair Saints volleyball team enjoying Cinderella playoff run

The St. Clair College men’s volleyball team did it again.

For the second straight week the Saints knocked off a high-seeded team, beating Conestoga in straight sets on the road to advance to the OCAA Final 4.

“We won that first set. No pressure and then all the pressure is on them right so we just fed into that and kept going,” year outside hitter Kale Wilkinson told CTV News.

A quick-set kill by Zach Walls was too hot to handle as the Saints closed out the match and punched their ticket to the OCAA Final Four this weekend in Sudbury.

“It’s definitely really special,” said fourth year setter Nick Kwiatkowski, who helped lead St. Clair to a 13-5 record a year ago only to fall short in the quarter-finals. “Playing together and just finally seeing everything work is definitely special. Thankful for the opportunity.”

The Cinderella run began February 8, after the team finished 6-12 and snuck into the playoffs at the eighth seed. The Saints travelled to Barrie to face the top-seeded team in the east. Georgian finished 17-1 but fell victim to an upstart St. Clair team.

The Saints then travelled to Kitchener to face a Conestoga team that had beaten them twice this season. St. Clair kept the fairytale alive and have a chance to bring home a medal for the first time since 2015 when that team won the program’s lone medal, a silver, at the Sportsplex.

“It would be amazing to bring one [medal] home,” said head coach Shawn Reaume, who was player on the upstart 2015 University of Windsor team that surprised the field to make it to the OUA Final Four. “We know we’re good enough to play with any team in this league. Two seasons ago we made playoffs. Couple times in a row now, we made it to the next round - building up incrementally, why not medal? We’re already gonna be there.”