The St. Thomas University Tommies are peaking at the right time as they closed out the ACAA regular season having won 12 of their final 13 games.
Thanks in large part to their incredible finish to the regular season the Tommies finished second place in the ACAA and will receive a first-round bye this weekend during the ACAA Championships, hosted by Mount Allison University. Joining the Tommies with a first-round bye will be the Holland College Hurricanes (18-0). Other teams rounding out the tournament are the MTA Mounties (13-5), the Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics (10-8), the University of King’s College Blue Devils (10-8) and the Dalhousie Agriculture College Rams (8-10).
“We believe that as long as we are healthy, we will be able to compete with all teams in the Championships,” said Tommies head coach, Don McKay.
The Tommies battled through numerous injuries down the stretch, testing the team’s depth and ability to adapt on the fly as at one point both of the team’s setters were shelved with injuries, forcing some players to play out of natural positions.
The Tommies were once again led offensively by the duo of Hannah Millier and Megan Mills, who were both near the top of almost every major statistical category in the ACAA.
McKay knows the key to a good offence starts with taking care of things defensively.
“If Mija MacDonald [libero] shows what she is capable of doing, allowing us to run offence off of good passing, we will be very tough this coming weekend. All players need to step up at this point in the season. It is the time when the best players need to play their best.”
The Tommies first matchup will come on Saturday, February 29th at 2:00pm, and they will face the highest ranked team remaining from Friday’s quarterfinals.