M-VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: Mustangs winning streak halted at 4 by Gryphons

Queen's 0 @ Ryerson 3 (25-17, 25-19, 26-24)

TORONTO – A career-high 18 point night from Lucas Coleman (Brooklin, Ont.) helped propel the Ryerson Rams men's volleyball team (2-1) to a straight sets (25-17, 25-19, 26-24) victory over the Queen's Gaels on Friday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Coleman racked up a game-high 15 kills and added two blocks and a service ace for his 18 point effort.

The Rams blockers set the tone early in the first set which helped the home side jump out to an 11-5 advantage. Ryerson went on to record 13 blocks during the match.

A Marc Reardon (London, Ont.) kill gave the Rams a 16-10 advantage at the technical timeout and the Rams cruised from there, closing the set at 25-17 to take a 1-0 lead.

Ryerson's tempo carried over into the second set and the Rams held a 16-11 lead at the technical. Queen's made a run out of the timeout to cut the lead down to 17-15 which forced a Rams timeout but Ryerson responded with the next four points and went on to win the set 25-19.

The Rams fell behind in the third set and trailed by as many as six at 11-5 but the home side rallied with a 4-0 run to get back within striking distance and eventually took the lead going into the technical timeout at 16-15.

The teams traded points for much of the remainder of the set but an ill-timed Queen's service error gave Ryerson a 25-24 advantage and the duo of Uchenna Ofoha (Markham, Ont.) and George Sakvarelidze (Toronto) sealed the game with a block, giving Ryerson the 26-24 set win to sweep the Gaels.

"I am very proud of my guys for how they played the first two sets. We knew that Queen's is a difficult team to play against. We took some risk on service…and kept them off the net and kind of simplified," said head coach Mirek Porosa following the match.

Lucas Coleman was quick to credit his teammates for helping in his performance on Friday.

"I thought offensively I did pretty well [but it] made it easier with the guys passing so well. Will (Otten) and Alex (Dawson) helped me out a lot and let me focus more on my offence."

Otten (Delaware, Ont.) finished with ten digs to lead all players.

Markus Trence was the top point-getter for the Gaels, finishing with nine points on eight kills and a block.

The Rams return to the court on Saturday when they host the RMC Paladins at 8:00 p.m.

Source: Ryerson Rams

Guelph 3 @ Windsor 2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-19, 24-26, 12-15)

Waterloo 2 @ Windsor 2 (20-25, 28-26, 25-22, 23-25, 15-17)

It as a tough first weekend at home as the Lancer men's volleyball team lost two heartbreaking games in five sets against the Guelph Gryphons and Waterloo Warriors at the St. Denis Centre.
 
Windsor was defeated by the Gryphons 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-19, 24-26, 12-15) on Friday night and 3-2 (20-25, 28-26, 25-22, 23-25, 15-17) by the Warriors on Saturday.
 
On Friday against Guelph, both teams passed well to begin but Guelph ended up on top thanks to some timely blocks and early kills. The Gryphons won the first set 25-23.
 
After regrouping, the Lancers battled back in the second set. While failing to overcome the offensive slump from the first set, the Lancers relied on their strong team defensive skills. They were able to rally behind 4th years Andrew Chelladurai and Blase Wasser who had 9 and 5 digs respectively through the second set. Greg Simone and Gabriel Burlacu were able to build on this defence with 5 kills each to give the Lancers the second set 25-20.
 
Building on the momentum from the second set, the Lancers came out firing in the 3rd. Wasser continued to hold down the fort on defence, while Burlacu and Simone continued on offence. The Lancers won the third set handily 25-19.
 
The 4th set saw the momentum shift back across the net as the Gryphons refused to go down without a fight. While the Lancers out dug the Gryphons, this set came down to blocking and offence. The Gryphons were able to out block the Lancers. The Lancers also hit in the negative for the set. The set battled into extra points but saw the Gryphons come out on top by a score of 26-24.
 
The fifth set saw the teams both go on runs of momentum. The Lancers were hot out of the gate, leading by a score of 8-3 when the teams switched sides; in large part due to quick thinking by head coach James Gravelle inserting 5th year Left Side Chad Hinchey into the line-up. Hinchey shouldered the load offensively giving the Lancers a boost early in the set with 3 kills. The Gryphons refused to give up however; Guelph stormed back from a five point deficit to take the 5th and deciding set 15-12.
 
On Saturday, the Lancers are Warriors showed tremendous poise and determination through five difficult and entertaining sets in front of a boisterous crowd at the St. Denis Centre.
 
The Warriors had great chemistry to start the game and broke down the Lancer defense with some strong hits throughout the first set to win 25-20.
 
Windsor picked up their defense and challenged the impressive Waterloo offense throughout the second in third sets. Both sets were tight affairs and the Lancers strong play and few key plays led the Blue & Gold to win both sets, 28-26 and 25-22.
 
Waterloo took the momentum of a tight 25-23 fourth set win into the fifth and defeated the Lancers in extra points 17-15 to win the match.
 
Windsor was led by Burlacu with 17 kills and 3 digs, while Greg Simone had 21 digs. Waterloo's Aiden Simone had 16 kills and 10 digs to lead the Warriors.
 
The Lancers will return to the court on Thursday when they host the Western Mustangs at 8:00pm at the St. Denis Centre.

Source: Windsor Lancers

Waterloo 2 @ Western 3 (19-25, 25-22, 23-25, 38-36, 17-15)

LONDON, Ont. – Although there weren't any zombies on the floor, the Mustangs men's volleyball team pulled out a thriller on Friday night, defeating the Waterloo Warriors 3-2 (19-25, 25-22, 23-25, 38-36, 17-15) in five close sets.
 
With the win, the Mustangs continue their undefeated season with a 4-0 record, while Waterloo stands at 2-2.  
 
"We never gave up," said Mustangs head coach Jim Sage. "It was an OUA matchup against a team that hates us and it's so much fun, but stressful to compete against those guys. They'll be back, they're going to be around, and it was a great men's volleyball match."
 
After opening up the set with consecutive unforced errors, the Mustangs struggled to combat the strong attacks and towering blocks coming from Waterloo and quickly fell behind. Forced into a time-out at 11-15, the Mustangs attempted to adjust offensive play to avoid the Waterloo blocks.
 
Returning from a second time out, the Mustangs fired out two powerful hits to force the Warriors into their first time out of the night. However, after a Mustang serving error, the Warriors took the set 19-25.
 
Despite kicking off the second set with an early lead, Waterloo struggled to keep the Mustangs at bay as Western soon caught up and tied at 8-8. Trading points, both teams struggled to distance themselves from the other as they again tied at 12-12, 14-14 19-19, and 21-21.
 
Regaining the serve after a carefully placed tip from veteran player Justin Scapinello, the Mustangs won the set 25-22 with an unforced Warrior error.
 
Starting off the third set with another early lead, the Warriors continued to trip up the Mustangs with strong blocks and powerful attacks. Unwilling to give up the third set, the Mustangs fought back with aggressive defensive play to tie up the score at 12-12.
 
Taking the lead after a kill from third year Mike Choja, Scapinello served consistently to extend the team's lead to 17-13 with five unanswered points. Refusing to let the set go without a fight, Waterloo pushed through the set blocks and hit strategically to tie up the set at 20-20 and force a Western time-out.
 
Waterloo took the set after two consecutive errors by the Mustangs, ending the set 23-25.
 
The fourth set began with Western and Waterloo continuously trading points, until the Warriors began to pull away after cutting off attacks with seemingly impenetrable blocks.
 
Utilizing the consistency of Zeid Hamedeh and Brad Hockin's serves, the Mustangs caught up to Waterloo to remain competitive in the set with blocks from Scapinello and Chris Newcombe pushing the Mustangs into the lead at 16-14.
 
Refusing to allow the Mustangs a win, Waterloo soon tied up the score at 19-19, and again at 24-24. The two teams would continue to trade points, however after regaining the serve after an unforced error by Waterloo, consecutive attacks from Newcombe won the set for the Mustangs 38-36.
 
Opening up the fifth set with a refusal to leave the floor without a win, both teams attempted to exploit known weak spots of the opposition. Struggling to overcome the blocking power of Waterloo, Western fell behind 8-5 midway through the set.
 
Keeping the score close at 14-14, the Mustangs were unwilling to give up the win.
Taking the lead at 16-15 after an attack from Doug Austrom, Newcombe ended the game from the Mustangs with a block to bring the score to 17-15.
 
Justin Scapinello continues to be the point leader for the Mustangs, recording 27 points from 23 kills, one solo block and three service aces. Meanwhile, Zachary Dohery of the Warriors also recorded 27 points, with third year Chris Newcombe recording 20.5.
 
The Mustangs look to continue their winning streak with a November 1 game against Guelph, set to begin at 8 p.m. at Alumni Hall.

Source: Western Mustangs

Saturday, November 1

McMaster 3 @ Nipissing 0 (25-14, 25-19 and 25-22)

They had little time to rest with a quick turnaround, but the Marauders made short work of the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday to take all four points from their weekend road trip. McMaster played York in Toronto last night and was forced to return to court less than 24 hours later in North Bay, but swept the Lakers 25-14, 25-19 and 25-22 to win their fifth consecutive match.

Since losing their conference opener, the Marauders (5-1) have now played 16 sets and lost just one in winning five straight matches.

Second-year outside Brandon Koppers led McMaster with 16 points on Saturday, notching 15 kills from 20 hitting attempts versus three errors (.600) and adding one block. Danny Demyanenko also reached double digits, scoring 12 points on nine kills and three blocks.

The Marauders were brutally efficient in the opening set, converting 14 of 18 hitting attempts as a team and committing just one hitting error (.722) to out-pace the Lakers early. The Marauders brought a merciful end to the set with a kill to win the first by an 11-point margin.

McMaster built another healthy lead midway through the second set, widening the gap to seven points at 13-6 when Andrew Richards connected on one of his three kills on the afternoon. Nipissing fought back well following the technical timeout, and closed the gap to three points with Lyndon Sonego at the service line. But the Marauders reasserted themselves, and after a kill from Jayson McCarthy brought up set point, Peter Khodkeyvich aced the Lakers to give the Marauders a two-set lead.

Needing a spark to avoid the sweep, the Lakers enjoyed a much better start to the third set, taking a 10-7 lead after a wayward attack by Richards. But McMaster dug out of that early deficit, and took a two-point lead into the technical timeout after a kill by Demyanenko.

Having grabbed the lead, the Marauders would not give it up for the remainder of the match, and after Demyanenko killed to bring up match point, he followed with another of his nine kills to end the afternoon.

Source: McMaster Marauders

Guelph 3 @ Western 1

LONDON, Ont. – Ending their winning steak at four games, the Mustangs fell to the Guelph Gryphons 3-1 this evening at Alumni Hall.

"We just weren't consistent," says coach Jim Sage. "We tried to string points together. We'd get on for a little bit, and then miss a serve which really hurts our momentum, which is disappointing. Guelph really came in with a good game plan. They executed, and didn't shoot themselves in the foot whereas with our errors through the service line and hitting. You just aren't going to win those tight games when you make errors late in the sets."
 
The match brings the Mustang's season record to 4-1, while Guelph also sits at 4-1 on the season.

Starting off the first set by exchanging points, the Gryphons began to pull ahead by exploiting holes in the Mustangs defensive play. Unwilling to allow a substantial point differential, Western followed closely behind until consecutive aces from Zachary Newman widened the point gap to 18-14.
 
The Mustangs briefly stalled the Gryphons at 23 points after a kill from Justin Scapinello and a subsequent blocking error, but were unable to prevent Guelph from scoring the two points needed to end the set at 25-23.
 
The Gryphons opened up the second set with an early four point lead, but were unable to shake the Mustangs off as they quickly tied up the score at 7-7. With Western taking a two point lead, the Gryphons were forced into a time out at 9-7. Despite maintaining the two point lead for much of the set, Guelph rallied and refocused their defense to tie up the score at 20-20.
 
Unwilling to allow the Gryphons to advance past 21 points, the Mustangs won the set on two consecutive aces from Scapinello. Moment earlier, Scapinello had hammered out consecutive kills to bring the final score to 25-21.
 
Guelph once again began the set with an early lead and soon had the Mustangs doubled at 6-12. Working their way back from the deficit, the Mustangs slowly approached the Gryphon score.

After closing the gap to 22-22, Western struggled to maintain accuracy in attacks and blocks while Guelph capitalized on defensive errors ending the third set 24-26.
 
Continuing the established trend of Guelph taking an early lead, the Gryphons pounded out a four point differential that left the Mustangs trailing 4-0. Closing the gap at 12-12 after consecutive errors by Guelph, Western pulled ahead after focusing on serving consistency and blocking by middle Mike Choja to bring the score to 16-14 in favour for the purple and white. 
 
With a kill from Newman, Guelph tied up the score at 18-18, and again at 19-19. Neither team willing to allow a loss, the score was again tied at 23-23. Ending on a block from Joshua Green and Patrick Strzalkowski, Guelph took the final set 25-27.
 
For the fifth consecutive game Mustang veteran Scapinello topped the score sheet with 34.5 total points, from 30 kills, two aces, and two blocks. Patrick Strzalkowski of the Gryphons recorded the second highest number of points in the match with 15, while Joshua Green and Chris Newcombe each recorded 13.5.
 
The Mustangs next play on Wednesday, November 5 in Windsor, with game time set for 8:00 p.m. They then take a break until November 21 when they will return to action on home court.

Source: Western Mustangs

Queens 3 @ Toronto 2 (20-25, 25-23, 25-23, 16-25, 10-15)

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's volleyball team dropped a 3-2 decision (20-25, 25-23, 25-23, 16-25, 10-15) to the Queen's Gaels on Saturday, November 1 at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

With the loss, the Blues drop to 1-2 on the season, while the Gaels notch their first win and hold a 1-3 record.

Fifth-year veteran Jake Dysselhof led all players with 15 kills, while adding 12 digs on the night. Kyle Fick notched 14 kills and 15 digs, with Nate Virgo tallying 10 kills, seven digs and three blocks.

Veteran setter Michael Denton recorded 42 assists and 11 digs, with rookie Thomas Meier adding 13 digs in the loss.

Queen's was led by a 13-kill performance from Tyler Scheerhoorn. Markus Trence added 10 kills for the Gaels.

The Varsity Blues return to action this Friday, November 7 as they head to Guelph, Ont., to take on the Gryphons. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues