MEN'S VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: Marauders and Warriors punish weekend opponents in straight sets
Queen’s 0 @ Waterloo 3
The Warriors got back in the win column after a convincing straight set victory over the Queen's Gaels on Friday night at the PAC. Waterloo was dominant from start to finish to sweep aside their rivals from Kingston. Set scores were 25-21, 25-21, and 25-18.
Waterloo improved to 6-2 on the season and move into a tie for first overall in the OUA while Queen's dropped to 3-2 on the season.
The Warriors were efficient on their attack with only 12 total errors compared to Queen's 24. Leading the offensive charge was Zachary Doherty (Goderich) who put away 11 kills while adding four blocks. Aleks Poldma (Toronto) who returned to the line-up after missing the games last weekend was strong on the left side with eight kills and two blocks. Up the middle Tyler Motherwell (Toronto) was once again a wall for the black and gold with eight blocks.
For the Gaels it was Philippe Goyer who provided most of the damage with 11 kills. Stephen Holmes also chipped in with six kills and four blocks while collecting five digs.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
Ryerson 2 @ Windsor 3
WINDSOR, Ont.- The Lancers men's volleyball team earned their second win of the season on Friday night at the St. Denis Centre, holding off a Ryerson Rams comeback bid to clinch a 3-2 (25-17,25-16,22-25,14-25,15-12) victory.
Greg Simone led the men with a team-best 18 kills and 20 points while garnering a .205 hit percentage. Middle Adam Thompson chipped in with 13.5 points, including a game-high five solo blocks. Gabriel Burlacu and veteran Scott Hickman were also steady contributors, each adding 11.5 points to the Lancer cause. Burlacu and Blase Wasser led Windsor with 12 digs a-piece, and setter Andrew Chelladurai notched 48 assists in the win.
After going up by two sets in convincing fashion, the Lancers had their momentum cut short in the third as Ryerson was able to pick up a set to cut the advantage in half. The Rams were explosive in the fourth, accumulating a 10-3 spread that allowed them to easily draw even and set the match into a final game.
After trading point to begin the fifth, Windsor railed off three straight thanks to kills from Thompson and Hickman as well as a Ryerson error. The men never gave up the lead from there, as a kill from Burlacu and a block from Thompson sealed the match.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
Toronto 0 @ Western 3
LONDON, Ont.- The Western Mustang's men's volleyball team hosted the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday evening as part of a two-game home-stand this weekend and came out with the win in three straight sets (25-21, 25-20, 25-20).
"We executed during key, clutch moments but the sets were close, even in the first and second sets," said head coach Jim Sage. "I give [the team] credit for their poise when it came close in the third set."
Western started off strong in the first set, and did not once vanquish the lead to Toronto resulting in a set score of 25-21.
An equally early lead in the second frame, complimented by strong defense tactics allowed he Mustangs to take the second set 25-20.
The third and final set was intense as Toronto turned up the heat, fighting to stay in the match and maintaining the lead until quite late in the game. Stellar serving from Sean McKay quickly brought the Mustangs back where they wanted to be and with a set winning kill from Gavin Taylor, the Mustangs not only took the set, but also the match 3-0.
Mustang Garrett May had a game-high 15 kills, while Phil James added 11 of his own and two solo blocks. William Colucci led the Varsity Blues with 14 kills and two solo blocks.
Source: Western Sports Info
Saturday, November 16
RMC 0 @ Waterloo 3
The Warriors moved to 7-2 on the season with a straight set victory over the visiting RMC Paladins on Saturday afternoon at the PAC.
Waterloo opened up the first two sets with convincing wins (25-18, 25-19) but the Paladins who continued to gain confidence throughout the contest gave Waterloo all they could handle in the third set. RMC opened up a 13-8 lead before Waterloo would grab eight of the next 10 points to even things at 15. The two combatants would go back and forth all the way to the finish line before Waterloo's Jordan Dyck (St. Catharines) put up a solo block to cap off the set 26-24 and match 3-0.
The Warriors boasted a young line-up in the contest and put forth a determined effort for head coach Chris Lawson. Rookie right side Braden Cok (Waterloo) showed his bright future with the black and gold putting away a game high 13 kills several of which were straight down on the RMC side. Cok also had seven digs in the win.
Dyck added several good looks from the middle with his eight kills while adding four blocks. Rookie setter Gibson Graham (Markham) saw his first complete game of the season and was solid with 33 assists in the match. Another first year getting playing time was libero Philippe Piche (Ottawa) and his eight digs led Waterloo to victory.
For RMC Thomas McMullen led his team with 11 kills while Adam Lupton finished with eight. Defensively Patrick Poulin led all players with 13 digs.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
Queen’s 0 @ McMaster 3
It has been an intense rivalry in recent years, but the McMaster men's volleyball team defeated the Queen's Gaels in straight sets on Saturday afternoon (25-21, 25-12. 25-23) to remain undefeated in OUA play.
Putting one of its younger teams on the floor, Queen's seemed unintimidated to be playing the second-ranked team in the nation and matched the Marauders point for point in the first set. McMaster held a 16-15 lead at the technical timeout and with the score tied 20-20, Coach Dave Preston called a timeout to get his team focused on closing out the set. With Danny Demyanenko serving, the Maroon proceeded to run off four straight points and eventually won the set 25-21.
The second set saw McMaster jump out to an early 10-3 lead, before the Gaels rallied to close to within 11-8. Then it was Mac outside-hitter Stephen Maar who got into a serving groove and the Marauders were on top 16-9 at the technical timeout. Coming out of the break, McMaster continued its strong push and powered through to a 25-12 win and a two-set lead.
Preston was able to rotate fresh legs into the line-up and the third-set saw McMaster carry the play to a 16-12 lead at the technical timeout. However, this time it was Queen's that came out of the break with some intensity and the Gaels fought back to grab a 22-21 lead. Not wanting to have the match extended anymore than necessary, the Marauders regained the lead and closed out the match with a 25-23 win.
The BIG MAC player of the match was setter Austin Campion-Smith, who had 35 assists on the day and did a terrific job setting up the Marauder attack. Outside-hitter Jayson McCarthy had a strong match and was the top Marauder scorer with 12.5 points.
Source: McMaster Sports Info
Toronto 1 @ Windsor 3
WINDSOR, Ont.- Adam Thompson led the way with 14 points, including a formidable seven blocks, and the Windsor Lancers men's volleyball team topped the Toronto Varsity Blues 3-1 (25-22,25-22,20-25,25-21) on Saturday afternoon, earning their second-straight victory.
Thompson was dominant on serve in the game-clinching set, using four aces to spur the Lancers on an astounding 10-point streak that gave the men their third win of the conference season. The Lancers looked to be heading to a fifth set for the second-straight day after going the distance with Ryerson on Friday night, as they faced a 21-15 deficit in the fourth. Thompson began the streak with an ace, and would tally three more throughout the streak,
Scott Hickman came up with critical kill and block combo, and Windsor pulled out a set win in the fourth over a stunned Blues squad that looked as though they send the game to five after going down 2-0. Jake Dysselhof led the Blues with 17.5 points in a losing cause.
Chad Hinchey tallied a team-best 10 kills while Gabriel Burlacu and Greg Simone added nine and eight respectively in the win for Windsor (3-4). Libero Blase Wasser totalled 12 digs and Andrew Chelladurai tallied 41 assists.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
York 3 @ Nipissing 0
A week after earning their first victory of the season, the Nipissing Lakers men’s volleyball team didn’t turn in the kind of match they were hoping for.
The Lakers lost in straight sets to the York Lions Saturday afternoon, losing 25-19, 25-13 and 25-21.
The second set really hurt the Lakers as they only managed 13 points, but the first and third they were able to hang with one of the top teams in the OUA.
Unfortunately, the experience of the York team paid off in the end and earned them the victory.
Source: Nipissing Sports Info
Ryerson 3 @ Western 2
LONDON, Ont. – The No. 9 nationally-ranked Western Mustangs men's volleyball team looked to extend their four game win-streak Saturday night against the Ryerson Rams at Alumni Hall. The Mustangs were not able to match Ryerson's solid offense, dropping the match 3-2 with set scores of 21-25, 24-26, 25-17, 26-24 and 14-16.
"You can't go down 2-0 against good teams because you use a lot of energy to fight back," said Mustangs head coach Jim Sage. "And we were so close in that fifth set. I'm so proud of the guys for doing that; there's no doubt about it. But a loss is a loss, regardless."
The teams traded points for much of the first set and at the technical timeout the Rams led 16-12. By the end of the set, the Rams had only allowed the Mustangs to gather another five points.
Western led for the first part of the second set, but by the technical, the Rams had climbed back into the lead. The Mustangs tied the score at 18, 19 and 20, until Ryerson pulled ahead to claim the set with a score of 26-24.
These well-matched teams battled hard in the third with Western coming out on top with a score of 25-17.
The resilient Mustangs were not prepared to give up and took the Rams to task in the fourth frame. Halfway through the set though, the Mustangs began to struggle defensively. A few plays later, Western was back on track, and still in the match with a set win of 26-24.
The fifth and final set was a thrilling one as the teams both put up a hard fight. In the end the Rams took the set 16-14 to close out the game with a 3-2 victory.
Fourth-year Mustang Derek Kuiack led all Mustangs on the attack tonight with 14 kills. Luke Sim contributed 11 kills, three assists, three digs and two block assists.
Ryerson player Robert Wojcik had a game-high 20 kills and one solo block.
"I was severely worried about them [Ryerson] coming here," continued Sage. "They lost last night in Windsor and I think our guys thought they'd have it easy tonight. It just fired Ryerson up to more resolve and they played well. I give them a lot of credit."
Source: Western Sports Info
Sunday, November 17
RMC 0 @ McMaster 3
The McMaster men's volleyball team remained undefeated in the OUA, and kept the Royal Military College winless by defeating the visiting Paladins 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-16) on Sunday afternoon in Hamilton.
The Marauders set the tone for the match early by jumping out to a 9-3 lead in the opening set. McMaster coach Dave Preston tinkered with his line-up against the Paladins, getting some of his reserves some valuable game experience. The men in Maroon did not let up and grabbed a one-set lead with a 25-11 win.
The second set saw RMC raise its intensity level and the Paladins held a 9-7 lead, before McMaster began to make its move. At the technical timeout the Marauders were in front 16-13 and had all the momentum. Behind some strong serving from Jayson McCarthy and Danny Demyanenko, McMaster closed out the set 25-17.
Now up by two sets, Coach Preston made use of his bench in the third and the Marauders raced to a 9-2 lead and were up 16-4 at the technical timeout. The Paladins competed gamely, but the deficit was far too great to overcome and McMaster secured the match in straight sets with a 25-16 win.
McMaster is now a perfect 6 and 0 in OUA play and sits No. 2 in the national top-ten.
The BIG MAC player of the game was setter Andrew Kocur, who made his first start of the year. Kocur had 26 assists, while also making 4 digs and serving two aces in a strong all-round performance. The Marauder offense got a 17.5 point effort from Brandon Koppers and Jayson McCarthy chipped in with 14.5 points that included 3 service aces. RMC's player of the game was Tom McMullen, who led his team with 6.5 points.
Source: McMaster Sports Info