OUA volleyball returns to the court October 17th
HAMILTON, Ont. - Ontario University Athletics (OUA) volleyball returns to the court on Oct. 17, with a matchup between Kingston rivals as the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins welcome the Queen’s Gaels to the Kingston Military Community Sports Centre for a men’s match to open of the 2015-16 season.
HAMILTON, Ont. - Ontario University Athletics (OUA) volleyball returns to the court on Oct. 17, with a matchup between Kingston rivals as the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins welcome the Queen's Gaels to the Kingston Military Community Sports Centre for a men's match to open of the 2015-16 season.
A full slate of women's games is on tap for the opening weekend with all 14 teams in action Oct. 23-24. Highlights include: Windsor travelling up the 401 to take on the rival Western Mustangs, Nipissing heading North to Thunder Bay, Ont., to take on the Lakehead Thunderwolves and the Waterloo Warriors in the "Steel City" to do battle with the McMaster Marauders.
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team will begin their championship defense when they head to Guelph, Ont. to face off against the Guelph Gryphons on Oct. 23. The last time the Varsity Blues were at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre, they walked away with the OUA banner and would like nothing more than to start the season off with a big road victory.
Following the opening day game between RMC and Queen's, there is also a full slate of men's action scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 23-24.
What better way to open the season than with a rematch of the 2014-15 OUA championship between the Waterloo Warriors and McMaster Marauders. In that game, the Marauders prevailed 3-0 and captured their sixth OUA title in the past eight seasons. McMaster swept their regular season meetings with the Warriors last season.
Opening weekend on the men's side will also feature a rematch of the bronze medal game between the Windsor Lancers and York Lions on Oct. 23. Lions OH Ray Szeto had a game high 19 kills to lead the Lions to a 3-2 victory over the Lancers to earn the bronze.
On the women's side, Oct. 30 will see a rematch of last year's OUA bronze medal game between the Western Mustangs and Guelph Gryphons. Despite finishing the regular season with a 7-12 record, the Mustangs went on a magical run to end the season, defeating the defending champion Marauders in the first round of the playoffs and then the Gryphons on their home court to capture the bronze medal.
Fans of OUA women's volleyball will have Nov. 15 circled on their calendars as the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees will be in Toronto, Ont., to take on the aforementioned Varsity Blues in a rematch of the 2014-15 OUA championship. Toronto defeated Ottawa 3-2 to capture the gold medal, however, the teams split their regular season meetings last year. The two teams will face off again in the nation's capital on Feb. 6.
The season will break at the end of first semester on Nov. 29 with three final games including: Nipissing men and women travelling to the Tait MacKenzie Gymnasium to take on York and the Thunderwolves battling the Gee-Gees in Ottawa, Ont. in a women's single game matchup.
After the holiday break, action resumes Jan. 15 with Waterloo's men's and women's squads taking on Windsor, while the Ryerson Rams head up to North Bay, Ont. to face Nipissing.
Two games will wrap up the 2014-15 regular season on Feb. 21 with the York women travelling to St. Catharines, Ont. to take on the Brock Badgers, while the Waterloo men will head to "The Royal City" to take on the Gryphons to close out the year.
Playoffs in both the men's and women's leagues are set to begin with quarter-final games on Feb. 27 followed by the OUA Final Four going the following weekend. On the men's side, the team with the best regular season record will receive a bye to the semifinals and host the Final Four tournament, while the women's host will be the highest remaining team following the quarter-final round. Semifinal action will take place on Friday, Mar. 4 followed by championship Saturday and the gold medal games on Mar. 5.
The OUA champion in both leagues will qualify for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championship which begins Mar. 11. The men's championship will be hosted by McMaster University while Brandon University hosts the women's championship. Since the Marauders will receive an automatic entry into the men's event, additional OUA teams could receive a berth based on playoff performance.