OUA Men's Volleyball Roundup (Oct. 30)
October 27, 2017
Ryerson 3 McMaster 1
The Ryerson Rams went to Hamilton Friday night to make a statement against the defending OUA Champions McMaster Marauders. In doing so, they have set the tone for the 2017-2018 season.
Claiming the 3-1 victory on the road to kick off the season, the victory marks the Rams first against the Marauders since a 3-2 thriller on November 4th, 2011. A nearly six year streak has been broken in dramatic fashion as the Rams look towards the rest of their season knowing what they are capable of.
The match opened with a 25-17 set claimed by McMaster. Fifth-year senior Brandon Koppers (Georgetown, Ont.) took command of his team into the early lead, and would eventually become among the match’s top scorers with 18 points.
It was the Rams’ experienced fifth-year seniors who would make a splash to keep things close and competitive. Lucas Coleman (Brooklin, Ont.) scored a game-high 19 points, coupled with a defensive prowess of 9 digs to carry his preseason success into the regular season.
A safe 25-18 claiming of the second set would be the last sure victory, as the scores and intensity tightened up. McMaster edged closer to an equalizer before Simon Davis-Power (Conception Bay South, Nfld.) denied them the opportunity and gave the Rams a 2-1 advantage.
The final set saw McMaster make a final charge at the victory. With back and forth scoring runs keeping it a guessing game as to who held the advantage, a pair of McMaster errors after a late 23-23 tie saw the Rams take the thriller 3-1 off of a nail-biting 25-23 fourth set.
“I think for us this first game is going to be a great measuring stick,” Rams coach Adam Simac said of the matchup earlier this week. With that in mind, this season opening victory only hints at what’s to come for this Rams lineup.
Source: Ryerson Rams
Western 0 Guelph 3
So much for opening-day jitters. The Guelph Gryphons men's volleyball team looked in form in their 2017/18 OUA debut. The Gryphons were sharp and efficient in taking down the visiting Western Mustangs 3-0 on Friday night at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre. Guelph finished Western quickly, winning the three straight sets by scores of 25-21, 25-18 and 25-16.
Guelph played some of the nation's best teams in the preseason, including the two-time defending U SPORTS champion Trinity Western. The experience showed in the opener with the Gryphons' superior execution.
"Our serving and passing was really good," said head coach Cal Wigston. "Our serving and passing was right on top and our defence was outstanding. We were just defending all of the shots they were throwing at us.
"It was a great opening night."
Second-year right side player Matthew Baxter had a game-high eight kills, while fourth-year right side Zachary Newman added six. Second-year middle blocker Jakson Paterson and third-year middle blocker Samuel Nothnagel had four and three blocks respectively to combine for seven of the team's 11 on the night. Veteran setter Samuel Kloke racked up 22 assists, while fourth-year libero Kaj Wigston had a team-best five digs.
Nothnagel played a key role in helping Guelph take the commanding two-set lead. The Gryphons were in a battle in the first as a few service errors enabled Western to hang around. But up 18-16, Nothnagel came up with a clutch ace down the left side. Fifth-year left side and team captain Joshua Green followed up with a big kill, one of their eight in the set, to complete a 4-0 run and make it 22-16.
In the second, at 8-5 up, Guelph manufactured three straight blocks, the last from Paterson, during a 5-1 run for a 12-6 lead. Both teams exchanged small runs but the Gryphons took control and a Nothnagel kill ended the set.
Western was error-prone in the third and Guelph seized the chance to lead 15-7. A 6-1 run pushed it to 23-13 and the Gryphons closed it out. The hosts looked good, making 24 kills and committing just 12 errors, while the Mustangs had 30, 13 of which came in the decisive third set.
Source: Guelph Gryphons
Windsor 3 Waterloo 0
The No. 4 ranked Lancer men's volleyball team opened their season in high fashion with a pair of road victories over the Waterloo Warriors and Guelph Gryphons.
Windsor swept the Warriors 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-18) on Friday night and battled hard on Saturday to earn a tough 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 26-24, 23-25, 15-12) over the host Gryphons.
Pierce Johnson led the way for the Lancers against Waterloo with 19 kills and 3 blocks. Brad Gyemi contributed 12 kills while John Moate had five kills and an amazing four aces.
It was Gyemi's turn to lead the attack against Guelph as he led all scorers with 30 kills, an ace, and three blocks. Johnson had 22 kills in the five set effort while Matthew Pe Benito chipped in a game high 24 digs.
Source: Windsor Lancers
York 3 Nipissing 1
The York University Lions men's volleyball team travelled to North Bay, Ont., on Friday to face the Nipissing Lakers. The Lions won five of their seven pre-season matches and now have a strong start to their regular season with a 3-1 win over the Lakers.
The first set didn't go the way the Lions wanted. Both teams stayed within four points of each other, and were tied at 22-22. The Lakers were able to pull ahead and speed their way to the 25th point to end the set 25-22 for the Lakers.
The second set saw the Lakers establish a worrisome three-point lead early on. Their lead was short-lived, however, as a service error on Laker Curtis MacPherson and two service aces by Logan Mend tied up the score. From there, it bounced back and forth until the end of the match when the Lakers gave up four points in service errors, allowing the Lions to finish the set with a 25-23 win.
Wanting more, the Lions played aggressively right from the start of the third set. They maintained this intensity throughout, and the Lakers stood no chance of catching up. The Lions came out the winners again, this time with a 25-18 win. The fourth set unravelled similarly to the third, with the Lions establishing control of the court right away and the Lakers unable to catch up despite their best efforts. The Lions blasted their way to 25-15 victory in the fourth and final set of the match.
Leading the Lions in scoring was Toure Nwakesi with 15.5 points on 11 kills, two services aces and 2.5 blocks. Teammate Tyler Covach also had 11 kills throughout the match. Mend had the highest number of services aces, with 36 over the course of the match, and he also contributed seven points on five service aces and two kills, as well as five digs.
Source: York Lions
RMC 3 Trent 0
October 28, 2017
Windsor 3 Guelph 2
Saturday night at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, the Gryphons men's volleyball team suffered a five-set loss to the visiting Windsor Lancers. Set scores were 25-21, 20-25, 24-26, 25-23 and 12-15. With the result, the Gryphons fall to 1-1 on the season while Windsor improves to 2-0.
Zach Newman (22 kills) and Josh Green (14 kills) helped lead the way for the Gryphs in attack, while Sam Kloke racked up 10 digs to go along with his 56 assists.
Source: Guelph Gryphons
Western 3 Waterloo 1
Chris Newcombe and Bryn Ramsay combined for 30 points as the Western Mustangs defeated the Waterloo Warriors in an exciting four set contest (28-30, 25-23, 25-18, 25-23) on Saturday night at the PAC Gymnasium.
The win gives the Mustangs a 1-1 record after their season opening weekend, while the Warriors are 0-2 to start the year.
Newcombe led the Mustangs scoring efforts for the second consecutive night, tallying 16 points off 14 kills, a service ace, and two assisted blocks. He was close followed by 14 points from Ramsay, who contributed 11 kills, two aces, and two block assists in the win.
Braden Cok topped both sides of the score sheet on Saturday with 21 points for the Warriors. Three other players scored double digits for the home side, with Jordan McConkey (11.5 points), Kevin Lebreux (11 points), and Aidan Simone (10 points) all making their presence felt in the loss.
The opening set established the tone for the night as after the two sides traded points up to and through the 25 point mark. Each team fought off numerous attempts at set point before the Warriors were able to close things out with a 30-28 set win.
The second set would continue to be a tightly played affair with the Warriors holding only a one point lead at the technical timeout. Neither side could gain a significant advantage before the end of the frame, but the Mustangs were first across the finish line as a kill from Newcombe secured the set two win at 25-23.
Western took the momentum into the third set, jumping out to a 16-12 lead at the technical timeout. Waterloo began to push back following the break, but the Mustangs continued to build on their early lead and claimed a 25-18 victory.
The match returned to its point-for-point status early in the fourth set before the Mustangs built a bit of a cushion at 11-6. Waterloo answered back quickly, however, as two consecutive kills from Cok were followed up by a pair of blocks from the right side and Matthew Mawdsley.
Western took the lead for good on a kill from Ramsay to go up 20-19, and he would put the exclamation point on the win with the final point of the night to take the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.
Source: Western Mustangs