AROUND OUA: Gryphs push win streak to four with win over No. 10-ranked McMaster
GUELPH, ON - The Guelph Gryphons women's volleyball team seem to be settling into their new home just fine. On Saturday afternoon at the new Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, the Gryphons defeated the No. 10-ranked McMaster Marauders 3-sets-to-1.
SCOREBOARD
McMaser 1 @ Guelph 3
Brock 0 @ Waterloo 3
Ryeson 3 @ York 2
Toronto 3 @ Lakehead 0
Trent 0 @ Nipissing 3
Gryphs push win streak to four with win over No. 10-ranked McMaster
GUELPH, ON - The Guelph Gryphons women's volleyball team seem to be settling into their new home just fine. On Saturday afternoon at the new Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, the Gryphons defeated the No. 10-ranked McMaster Marauders 3-sets-to-1. Set scores were 17-25, 25-21, 25-23 & 27-25. With the win, the Gryphons improve to 6-4 on the season and improve to 2-0 on their new home court following a win over Brock a week ago. The Marauders meanwhile, who started the season 7-0, have now dropped back-to-back matches (at Western & at Guelph) and sit at 7-2 on the season.
Saturday's result for the Gryphons was impressive. The way they started the match however, was not. It was all Mac early on, with the Marauders not only taking the opening set in convincing fashion (17-25), but also jumping out to a 5-1 lead in the 2nd set. After the disappointing start, the Gryphons looked like a different team, winning each of the next three sets while producing some of their best volleyball of the season. A pair of Gryphon rookies stepped up with Alexandra Curran setting up Michaela Hellinga for a big kill following the technical timeout in the 2nd set to give the Gryphs a three point cushion. Curran, a rookie setter out of Aurora, did an excellent job distributing the ball all game long and finished the afternoon with 40 assists, while Hellinga, a rookie left side from Guelph, finished the day with a career-high 16 points (11 kills, 4 blocks, 3 aces).
While the rookies certainly impressed on Saturday, the Gryphs also received terrific leadership from several of the veterans on the team. Third year left side Victoria Golebiowski and fourth year left side Maddie Dedecker were both clutch all afternoon and were instrumental in helping the Gryphs close out the match. After the Gryphons took the 3rd set 25-23, the 4th set featured several lead changes and long rallies, with Dedecker and Golebiowski making their impacts felt both on the attack as well as at the net. Dedecker finished the game with 15 points and 12 digs, while Golebiowski racked up 14.5 points and 19 digs.
The win on Saturday pushes the Gryphons win streak to four in a row. After starting the season 1-3, the Gryphs have now won five of six and sit alone in 3rd in the OUA West Division standings, just two points behind McMaster.
The Gryphons now face the challenge of trying to sustain this momentum with a long layoff upcoming. The Gryphs have the following week off, with their next game coming on Saturday, Jan. 28 when they host the York Lions. That game versus York marks the first of back-to-back home games, with the Nipissing Lakers set to visit the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre on Sunday, Jan. 29.
Source: Guelph Gryphons
Warriors take care of Badgers in first contest of 2017
Waterloo kicked off 2017 in style, topping the Brock Badgers in straight sets on Saturday afternoon at the PAC.
Waterloo controlled the match from start to finish while taking advantage of an error-filled contest from the visitors to earn their fifth win of the season. Waterloo is now 5-4 on the season, good for fourth in the OUA west. Brock meanwhile fell to 2-6 and are second last in the west.
Overall, Brock posted 26 errors in the match while Waterloo was much cleaner with just 11. The Warriors finished the match with 27 kills and an impressive eight service aces.
Leading the way for Waterloo was Claire Mackenzie (Vancouver) who collected 13.5 points on 10 kills, three service aces and one block. Mackenzie also picked up a team leading six digs.
Also chipping in on the offence was Kayla Wierts (Drayton) and Casey Clunas (Harriston), who each had seven points while Alyson Colpitts (Fredericton) finished with six. Rookie setter Claire Gagne (Cambridge) was solid with 20 assists in the win.
For Brock it was Laura Condotta leading the offence with nine points while collecting 11 digs. Karlinna O'Leary had a solid defensive game for her Badgers with a game high 12 digs.
Waterloo will head to Thunder Bay next weekend for back-to-back games against Lakehead before returning home for five straight home games starting Friday, January 27 against York.
Source: Waterloo Warriors
Usual suspects help Rams complete comeback
TORONTO - Theanna Vernon (Scarborough, Ont.) and Veronica Livingston (Kelowna, B.C.) each picked up 13 kills as the Ryerson Rams women's volleyball team erased a 2-1 deficit to defeat the York Lions in five sets (25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 25-13, 15-11) Saturday afternoon at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
BOXSCORE
Rookies Cailin Wark (Georgetown, Ont.) and Lauren Veltman (Brampton, Ont.) added seven and six of their own while Kate McIlmoyle (London, Ont.) and Mady Timpany (Woodstock, Ont.) combined for 46 assists.
Neither team got off to a hot start in this one. Both sides racked up ten hitting errors in the opening set. The difference was the fact the Rams had ten kills compared to the Lions' eight. Four straight points while Kristine Yan (Markham, Ont.) served put Ryerson up 24-17 before a kill by Livingston a few plays later ended it.
In the second set, the Rams jumped out to a quick 14-9 advantage but some mistakes allowed York to get back into it. Tied at 23, the Lions' Sarah Williams picked up a crucial kill to give York the edge. An attack error by Ryerson during the next sequence secured York's victory and knotted things up at one set apiece.
The Lions carried that momentum into the third. Up 21-18, kills by Heather Setka, Rachel Adams and Setka once again put York up six. Shortly thereafter, another big finish by Setka finished off the set and gave the Lions a 2-1 lead.
With their backs against the wall and in need of a win to force a fifth set, the Rams stepped up. Offence from a variety of sources for Ryerson and some errors by York helped the Rams breeze to the 25-13 victory. Ryerson finished the set with their best kill percentage of the afternoon (0.281) on 13 kills and only four errors.
It was clear that the Rams' offence was now settled in. McIlmoyle continued to make great decisions with the ball and in the end a Livingston kill secured the 15-11 win in the fifth set.
Setka led the Lions with a game-high 15 kills while Celeste Witzell added 11. Kirsten Dillon finished with 37 assists.
The victory continues Ryerson's hot play from the end of 2016 into this year. They've now won seven of their last eight and sit second in the OUA East division with a 7-3 record. York, meanwhile, drops to 5-4 and into fourth place.
The Rams aren't back in action until next Saturday when they travel to North Bay to take on the Nipissing Lakers (4-3). First serve at the Robert J Surtees Student Athletics Centre flies at 6:00 p.m.
NOTES
The win extends Ryerson's regular season winning streak against the Lions to seven straight. Their last loss to York was on October 26th, 2013… On top of that, the loss was the Lions' first at home this season. They're now 4-1 at the Tait McKenzie Centre… The Rams will finally return to the Mattamy Athletic Centre on Friday, January 27th when they host the Queen's Gaels.
Source: Ryerson Rams
No. 2 Blues open 2017 with win at Lakehead
The No. 2 nationally ranked University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team kicked off the second half of the regular season with a 3-0 (25-14, 29-27, 25-20) victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Saturday afternoon in Thunder Bay, Ont.
With the win, the Blues improve to 8-0 and remain atop the OUA East division standings.
Second-year standout Alina Dormann led all players with 18 points on 12 kills, three aces and three blocks, while adding 13 digs on the day. Anna Licht added nine points on six kills, two blocks and one ace, adding nine digs.
Emma Armstrong and Anna Feore each had seven points, with Armstrong adding 10 digs. Fifth-year setter Madelyn Mandryk tallied 31 assists and a team-high 17 digs, with veteran libero Asli Ersozoglu notching 12 digs in the win.
The Varsity Blues return to action next Friday, January 20 as they travel to North Bay, Ont., to take on the Nipissing Lakers. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Lakers sweep Trent for third straight win
Thanks to a balanced attack and bearing down, the Nipissing Lakers women's volleyball team picked up right where they left off.
After finishing the first half of the season with two wins, the Lakers were back in action at home and picked up their third straight victory, a 3-0 sweep over the visiting Trent Excalibur.
Nipissing took care of business against their first-year OUA opponents and despite a battle in the second set, cruised to the win.
The Lakers opened up the match with a dominant first set victory, as they controlled from start to finish.
They came out strong, built up a 16-5 lead at the technical timeout and took the first set 25-11.
In the second, Trent fought back and was close to evening the match up at one, but the Lakers fought hard to make sure that didn't happen.
Trent held the lead for much of the middle set and had Nipissing on the ropes, with the score 17-14.
The teams went down the wire, tied 23-23 and 24-24 before the Lakers grabbed the final two point – a service error by Trent and a kill by Erika Lapierre.
In the third and what turned out to be the final set, the Lakers were in control, much like the first set.
They grabbed command of the game with the score 7-4, as they rattled off five straight points which built up enough of a lead that they were able to secure the 25-14 win.
Lapierre posted 12 kills and 13 points and Tracy Hammerton had 11 kills and 14 points, while Stephanie Armstrong had 27 assists in the victory.
Saturday's win was the only match on the Lakers schedule this weekend, but they'll prepare for two tough battles next weekend, as they host Toronto and Ryerson.
Source: Nipissing Lakers
