AROUND OUA: Warriors top York 3-1 for home opening win

SCOREBOARD

York 1 @ Waterloo 3

Nipissing 0 @ McMaster 3

Ryerson 3 @ Queen's 0

Western 3 @ Guelph 2

Toronto 3 @ RMC 0

Warriors top York 3-1 for home opening win

The Warriors used a complete team effort to come out on top 3-1 (25-21, 25-23, 19-25, 26-24) over the York Lions in their home opener on Friday night at the PAC.  Three different Warriors reached double figures in kills while Jordan McConkey (Stratford) was huge at the net in the middle to lift Waterloo to the victory.  The Warriors moved to 1-1 on the young season while York fell to 2-1.

The opening set was all Waterloo as they jumped out to the 22-15 lead but the next four points would go the way of the visitors to make the set closer than the Warriors would have liked.  The two teams would go back and forth the next couple of points before McConkey put away the set with one of his four kills in the match.
Waterloo would continue their momentum into the second set grabbing an early 9-2 lead but the scrappy Lions would claw their way back into the set and eventually even things at 15-apiece.  The two combatants would go toe-to-toe down the stretch but new Warrior Greg Simone (London) had seen enough and took over late with three straight kills to give Waterloo the second set, 25-23 and a commanding 2-0 lead.
Although the Warriors looked poised for a sweep of their arch rivals, the Lions had other ideas and continued to battle in the third set.  Outside hitter Arthur Szwarc led the way with several big time kills to give York a 20-13 lead.  The Warriors would make a bid for the comeback but the set was too far gone and York would take it 25-19.

The fourth set would see the Lions jump out to a 12-7 lead and a fifth and deciding set was looming over the Warriors head but eight of the next nine points would go to the home side, giving them a 15-13 lead.  Waterloo would maintain their two point lead throughout the remainder of the set and a McConkey, Gibson Graham (Markham) block would seal the deal for the Warriors, winning the fourth and deciding set 26-24.
Leading the attack for Waterloo was Greg Simone (London) and Braden Cok (Waterloo) who each tallied 12 kills while Aidan Simone (London) finished the game with 11 and Trevor Coathup (Ottawa), nine.  Erich Woolley (New Dundee) and Graham shared defensive responsibilities with 12 digs each while Graham finished with 43 assists.

For York, Szwarc led the way with 13 kills while Tyler Covach had 12.  Tim Jensen was also in double figures with 10.  Setter Logan Mend was just as strong as Graham with 40 assists in the loss.

Waterloo will be back at it tomorrow against Nipissing for another 7pm game in the PAC.  The game can be seen live on OUA.tv.

Source: Waterloo Warriors

McCarthy stars as Mac sweeps Nipissing

Jumping on a sluggish Nipissing Lakers team early, the Marauders raced to a straight-set sweep in their first match of the weekend on Friday.

Set scores were 25-8, 25-16 and 25-20 for McMaster, who improved to 3-0 on the young season with the victory. Nipissing, meanwhile, falls to 1-2 with the loss.

Veteran right side Jayson McCarthy was nearly unstoppable on Friday, killing 12 of 17 hitting attempts versus just a single error (.647) and adding a game-high three aces and a block assist for 15.5 points. Meanwhile, Stephen Maar on the opposite wing was similarly effective, notching 11 kills, two aces and two solo blocks for 15 points.

McMaster began the night strongly, and built a wide early lead in the opening set when Andrew Richards went on a tear from the service line, using his spin serve to cause chaos with Nipissing's passing. Lakers head coach Eric Yung was desperate to break the Marauders momentum before the hosts could hit the finish line, but could do no such thing, as Mac claimed the opener by a whopping 17-point margin.

The trend continued in set two, as McMaster continued to probe with their pace of play and effectiveness from the line, preventing Nipissing from entering any sort of rhythm. With McCarthy and Maar providing regular attacking options, the Marauders cruised through the set, and won it while hitting .478 as a team.

Staring down a two-set deficit and the distinct possibility of a short night of work, the Lakers did not go quietly on Friday. Nipissing re-entered play in set three with more purpose and organization than fans had seen to that point, and matched McMaster point-for-point for long stretches, trailing by just four at the technical timeout. The visitors drew within a point of the Marauders late on, but ultimately committed too many errors to keep pace.

The Marauders complete their weekend home stand on Saturday, when they welcome the York Lions to the Burridge Gym for a 7:00 p.m. showdown.

Source: McMaster Marauders

No. 9 Gaels upset by Ryerson 3-0 in OUA Home Opener

KINGSTON, Ont. (October 30, 2015) – The No. 9 Gaels (1-1) were swept 25-17, 25-23, 25-18 in three straight sets by the Ryerson Rams (2-0) this Friday night in their home opener.

GAME FLOW
The Rams opened the match with an early lead and pushed the Gaels way back on their heels as they hit their rhythm getting up 16-4 by the first technical timeout. The Gaels came back with a vengeance and put the brakes on for Ryerson who found themselves fighting for the set as the Gaels hit back-to-back kills to reach double digits. The Rams had too much of a lead for the Gaels to catch them, however, and Ryerson took the set 25-17.

The Gaels got their first lead of the match early in the second and then took off, getting up 16-14 at the technical timeout. The Rams found their footing then and managed to blow past the Gaels to a 22-21 lead just when Queen's thought they had the set in the bag. A fight to the finish, the Rams snuck in a second set win with a close 25-23 score, heading into the third up 2-0.

The Rams rode their momentum into the third set to claim the first point. Alexander Dawson smacked down four aces in the first half of the set getting the Rams up to a 16-9 lead at the technical timeout. Following the trend of the past two sets, the Rams kept inching towards the match point as the Gaels tried to catch them. Ryerson ended their night with a third 25-18 set win to wrap up three straight sets.

The Gaels were led by the Marko Dakic (Mississauga, Ont.) who scored 15 kills and picked up four digs in the match to total 16 points. Alex Dawson led the Rams with 13 kills, 5 serving aces and a percentage of 0.619. Lucas Coleman was also a force for the Rams with 12 kills and four digs.

BY THE NUMBERS
No. 9 – Queen's CIS top 10 ranking this week
15 – Kills by Dakic
5 – Aces for Rams player Dawson
8 – Digs by Ivo Dramov (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)

UP NEXT
The Gaels will be back in the ARC Main Gym tomorrow night (Saturday, October 31) this time hosting the Toronto Varsity Blues at 8:00 pm.  

Source: Queen's Gaels

Gryphons comeback falls short as Mustangs win in five

Guelph, ON - The comeback was not to be Friday night as the Western Mustangs held on to defeat the Gryphons Men's Volleyball team 25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 23-25, 15-11. After dropping the first two sets, the Gryphons showed great character to fight back and force a fifth set before falling just short in the comeback bid. With the loss, the Gryphons fall to 0-3 on the season while Western improves to 2-1. 

The Gryphons got off to a slow start as they saw the Mustangs jump out to a quick 4-0 lead to start the match before the hosts called a timeout. The Gryphons were able to re-group and get back into form as Western held a slim 23-22 lead late in the opening set. A crucial long rally would then end with a Mustangs point as they would take the first set 25-22.

The second set was not much different from the first set as there was little separating the teams. The key point in the set was another long rally with the Mustangs up 11-9 as Luke Woud vs WesternWestern took a very important point as it propelled them to a 9-4 run that saw the lead expand to 20-13. The Gryphons got within 4 when the score got to 22-18 but that was as close as they would get as the Mustangs won the set 25-20 and a two sets to love lead. 

The hosts would start to mount the comeback in the third set as there was no separation between both teams. The largest lead in a seesaw set was two before the Gryphons rang up two vital points back-to-back to extend their lead to three and win the set 25-22 to extend the match. 

The fourth set saw several runs from both teams. The Gryphs got off to a strong start as led 10-6 but the Mustangs started their charge after a long rally saw floater finding some real estate. With the Gryphons up 12-10 in the set, the pivotal points of the set came off a Mustangs rally that started with two very important digs in back-to-back points that kick started a 7-1 run where they led 17-13. The Gryphons wouldn't let Western the run continue as they stormed back with three straight points to cut the lead to one. With the Gryphons leading 23-22, a timely block by Josh Green saw the hosts go up by two and eventual win the set 25-23 two points later to tie it up at two sets apiece going into the deciding fifth set with all the momentum. 

Momentum can flip in an instant as the Mustangs started off the fifth set with a bang going up 3-0 and 5-1. The Gryphons shook off the sluggish start to the set and got within two as the 9-6 serve appears to stay in according to refs as it looked like the hosts were about to mount another comeback and steal this match. But the early 5-1 deficit was too much for the Guelph to overcome as Western comes away victorious with winning the fifth set 15-11. 

Green with 14 kills and Zach Newman's 12 kills led the way for the Gryphons as Dallas Keith led the hosts in digs with 14.

The Gryphons will be back on the court looking for their first win against the Windsor Lancers tomorrow night at 8 p.m.

Source: Guelph Gryphons