AROUND OUA: Gryphons win 3-0 over RMC in home opener

SCOREBOARD

RMC 0 @ Guelph 3

Queen's 1 @ Waterloo 3

Brock 0 @ McMaster 3

Lakehead 1 @ Western 3

Gryphons win 3-0 over RMC in home opener

GUELPH, ON – The Gryphons women's volleyball team started the home portion of their schedule with a straight sets victory over the RMC Paladins on Friday night. Set scores were 25-20, 25-16 & 25-18. Guelph improves to 2-3 on the season while RMC is still looking for their first win of the season as they drop to 0-6.

The Gryphons would use a late surge in the first set to pull away from RMC all started by Victoria Golebiowski's block putting the Guelph ahead 16-14 at the technical timeout as the hosts would not relinquish the two point advantage. Fourth year left side Maddie Dedecker would play a pivotal role in the set as she would heat up from the floor collecting 5 of the 6 Gryphon points including set point as the Gryphs would take the opening set 25-20.

Guelph would carry that momentum over to the 2nd set jumping out to a quick 5-1 lead as they would cruise to a 25-16 set win thanks to 7-1 run late in the set. The third set would play out very similarly to the second as the Gryphs would utilize five mini 3-0 runs throughout the set as they would take the set 25-18 and the match in straight sets.
Maddie Dedecker led the way for the Gryphons on the night collecting 17 points (15 kills, 2 aces and 10 digs), Victoria Golebiowski had 11 (9 kills, 2 aces, 9 digs) and setter Alexandra Curran helped paved the way with her 34 assists and 9 digs defensively.

Gryphons head coach Paul Funk said, "We have to make fewer errors, we made too many unforced errors, too many ball out of bounds. Our unforced errors have to go way down if we're going to win tomorrow." 

The Gryphons will host the 2-4 Queen's Gaels Saturday night at 6 p.m. at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre.

Source: Guelph Gryphons

Colpitts and Mackenzie lead Warriors to second straight home win

Claire Mackenzie (Vancouver) and Alyson Colpitts (Fredericton) teamed up for 29 points as the Warriors picked up their second straight win on home court, topping the visiting Queen's Gaels 3-1 on Friday night. 

Mackenzie led the way with 13 kills and two service aces while Colpitts was also in double figures in kills with 11 while adding two aces and two blocks.

After losing a tight opening set 25-22, the Warriors went into cruise control winning the next three 25-17, 25-18, 25-11 to win their second match of the season.

Waterloo finished the match with 39 kills and an impressive 20 blocks while Queen's could only muster nine blocks.

Other Warriors playing key roles in the victory was rookie setter Claire Gagne (Cambridge) with 34 assists and Sarina Trasolini (Vancouver) picking up 19 digs.  At the net, Waterloo was led by Kayla Wierts (Drayton) and Casey Clunas (Harriston), combining for 11 blocks.

For Queen's it was Victoria Wensley running the offence with 14 kills while Caroline Livinston had 10.  Setter Nicola Ros collected 33 assists in a losing effort.

Waterloo looks to make it three straight tomorrow night when they take on RMC at the PAC at 6pm.  The game can be seen live on OUA.tv.

Source: Waterloo Warriors

Mac sweeps Brock to move to 6-0

They continue to inch up the national rankings, buoyed by imperious early form to open the OUA season, and Friday saw more of the same from the Marauders on home court. McMaster's established starters looked comfortable in dispatching the Brock Badgers in three sets at the Burridge Gym, as the no. 4-ranked team in Canada improved to 6-0.
 
Set scores were 25-16, 25-23 and 25-14 for the Marauders, who have won 18 of their 20 sets played thus far in the regular season.
 
Fourth-year outside Joanna Jedrzejewska continued to be the offensive engine for the Marauders Friday, notching a match high of 15 points including 13 kills on 31 attempts versus three errors (.323). She added two aces and had nine digs on the defensive side of the ball.
 
Teammates Rebecca Steckle and Aleks Arsovic also cracked double digits with 11.5 and 10 points respectively, while middle Jill Eisenhauer was the model of efficiency with seven kills on 12 attempts and no errors, while adding an ace and a block and a half.
 
Despite being subbed out for a stretch of the second set, Caitlin Genovy created plenty of offence in the win, with 36 assists across three sets.
 
McMaster stifled Brock's offence for much of the contest, holding the Badgers to just eight per cent hitting as a team. In that environment, the duo of Maddie Brown and Laura Condotta were Brock's relative bright spots, leading the team with seven and six kills, and seven and a half and seven points, respectively.
 
The lone point of contention came in the second set, where the Marauders led by as many as 10 points before a spirited comeback from the Badgers. A wayward attack from Alanna Norris gave Mac a 20-10 advantage, but Brock rebounded to win 12 of the next 15 points and pull within a point after an attacking error from Aleks Arsovic.
 
To their credit, the hosts buckled down to win two of the next three, and clinched the set on a massive kill from Jedrzejewska that ignited the Burridge Gym crowd.
 
McMaster returns to action in a week's time, when they play host to the Waterloo Warriors on Friday, November 25. That match will get underway at 6:00 p.m.

Source: McMaster Marauders

Mustangs stay undefeated with four set win over Lakehead

LONDON, Ont. – A 19.5 point performance from Kelsey Veltman carried the Western Mustangs over the Lakehead Thunderwolves in four sets (25-14, 19-25, 25, 12, 25-14) on Friday evening, allowing Western to continue their reign over the OUA West as one of two undefeated teams.

The 6-0 purple and white record is matched only by McMaster in the West, with Toronto serving as the only team in the East with an unblemished record. Lakehead, for their part, moves to 0-7 on the season.

"I think we did a great job of controlling the game for most of it," said Kat Tsiofas about the team's performance. "Obviously we had that blip in the second set, but we did a good job of controlling the score and errors on our side in sets one, three, and four."

"We played really well technically," added Veltman. "We've been struggling with serve receive lately and with some hitting but I think we really pulled it together today."

Veltman continued her campaign for a third straight All-Canadian nod after her match-high 19.5 points, while Aja Gyimah continued to dominate from the right side with 13 points.

Lakehead relied on Kailan Robinson and Leah Mousseau to generate points with the pairing adding 19 and 9.5, respectively, to the Thunderwolves total.

The Mustangs didn't give Lakehead a chance to build up any momentum in the first set, hammering out a rapid 16 points while the Thunderwolves could only manage four.

Gyimah was the favourite target of setter Tsiofas, but Veltman and Carly Kimmett were the most successful in finding open floor. Both registered four kills in the opening set, with Kimmett ending with 100% on attacks.

A first-year athlete hailing from Calgary, Kimmett has played an increasingly important role for the Mustangs. The last few games have seen her put up some of the highest point totals, in addition to being one of the most consistent players on the roster when it comes to passing.

It wasn't until Western rounded the 20-point mark that Lakehead began to fight back. Careful line policing and regained focus helped the struggling Thunderwolves outscore the Mustangs, but it wasn't enough to stop a purple and white victory, with Candice Scott closing things out at 25-14.

The Thunderwolves contingent that hit the floor for set two hardly resembled the team that dropped the first set. Gone were the unforced errors and timid play at the net, and for the first time in the match Lakehead was able to challenge the Mustangs.

But just as the energy on the Thunderwolves half of the court was reaching it's peak, the Mustangs were struggling. Head coach Melissa Bartlett had used both timeouts before the purple and white score reached 15, and at times it seemed like more balls were landing outside the confines of the court than inside.

"It's something we have to work on," said assistant coach Heather Brinkman about the team's focus. "Volleyball is a game of momentum shifts, and when you beat a team like that you kind of go back on your heels and expect it to just happen. […] We need to focus. It was all our side. They're a good team. They played well and we need to give them that respect, and not just expect things to happen for us."

A four-point run stalled the Thunderwolves at the 24-point mark briefly, but Lakehead eventually hit their mark at 25-19

Just as they did in the opening set, the Mustangs built up a steady lead early in the third relying on Veltman and Kimmett at the net. The duo were also among the most accurate Mustangs on the court.

Tsiofas, Melissa Langegger, and Candice Scott absorbed the brunt of attacks coming from Lakehead in the backcourt, but it was the coverage of the entire team that sent the attack percentages of leading Thunderwolves Robinson and Mousseau plummeting.

With the entire team working as a single unit, the Mustangs cruised to an easy 25-12 victory.

For the first time all match, the fourth set began as as even battle between the two teams. Previous sets saw substantial point differentials minutes into the game, but the Mustangs held only a narrow one-point lead after rounding the ten-point mark.

The Thunderwolves seemed to falter after losing the race to ten, with Western only allowing an additional five points on their way to the win.

Gyimah saved her best for the final set, propelling the Mustangs ahead with two aces and four kills to help bring the score to 25-14.

"Aja did a great job," noted Tsiofas. "Whenever we were out of system I knew I could give her the ball and she was always able to put it away."

Western is back on the court tomorrow, to again host the Thunderwolves and pick up their seventh win of the season.

"It's challenging mentally," said Tsiofas about the back-to-back matchups. "Lakehead's used to it, they play all teams back-to-back and it's something we do once a year. It's difficult to reset, refocus, and then play the same team. We're going to watch film tomorrow, make some adjustments based on what we did well and didn't do well today, and I'm sure we can do well tomorrow."

Source: Western Mustangs