AROUND OUA: Rams get back on track with win over Gryphons

SCOREBOARD

Guelph 1 @ Ryerson 3

McMaster 3 @ Waterloo 1

Toronto 3 @ Windsor 0

Trent 0 @ Western 3

Rams get back on track with win over Gryphons

TORONTO - Right when the Ryerson Rams women's volleyball team needed her most, Theanna Vernon (Scarborough, Ont.) delivered. Taking on the Guelph Gryphons, one of the hottest teams in the province this semester, Vernon collected 15 kills and only one error on 26 total attacks to lead the Rams to a 3-1 victory (21-25, 25-7, 25-20, 25-15) at the Mattamy Athletic Centre Friday night.

BOXSCORE

Along with her excellent offensive performance, the third year middle blocker added six solo blocks, two block assists and two service aces.

"She's definitely the centrepiece to our offence," said Ryerson's assistant coach Emily Betteridge about Vernon after the game. "We want to go to her when we can. I thought that (setter) Kate (McIlmoyle) used her really well and we got her going so she was feeling confident. She was also a big force for us at the net so that's always good for us to set up around from a defensive perspective."

Following a spotless January of regular season action where they went 4-0 and were named the OUA Female Team of the Month, the Rams fell 3-1 to the McMaster Marauders on February 8th and needed five sets to slay the Trent Excalibur in Peterborough, Ont. on Saturday. Those recent struggles seemed to seep into the first set of this one.

Tough serving by Guelph forced Ryerson to play out of system frequently and resulted in a number of errors on offence. The Rams played a few points behind the Gryphons for the majority of the set and couldn't close that gap down the stretch as Guelph took it 25-21. Ryerson finished with ten kills and seven attack errors in the set.

Adjusting to life without Becky Zeeman (Ottawa, Ont.) after she broke her leg against McMaster, new starters Kristine Yan (Markham, Ont.) and Jade Griffiths (Windsor, Ont.) settled in as the match wore on. Their play, and that of the rest of the Rams, completely turned around in the second set. Nobody was better than Vernon though. She racked up seven kills on eight attacks and two solo blocks to power Ryerson a dominant 25-7 victory.

Knotted at one set apiece, the Rams continued to roll in the third. Up 18-16, Veronica Livingston (Kelowna, B.C.) picked up a big kill before Lauren Veltman (Brampton, Ont.) collected a service ace. That gave Ryerson a four point advantage and forced the Gryphons to take a timeout. The two sides traded points the rest of the way before an attack error by Guelph's Victoria Golebiowski sealed it 25-21 for the Rams.

With the win in sight, Ryerson refused to let off the gas pedal. McIlmoyle (London, Ont.) continued to run a quick offence that spread the ball to a variety of hitters and consistently left the Gryphons one step behind. Up 20-15, Veltman wrapped up the set and the match with five straight serves including one of her game-high four service aces.

"I think it was a really important game for us to come out, especially after the weekend that we had with our game against Trent," said Betteridge. "The goal was to come out strong in the first set and obviously we didn't execute that as well as we would have liked, but we responded really well and I think those next three sets showed the type of team are."

Yan finished with nine kills and eight digs while McIlmoyle had 37 assists. Julie Longman (Newmarket, Ont.) added a game-high 14 digs.

Golebiowski, meanwhile, finished with team-high ten kills while Libby Donevan had eight, five of which came in the first set alone.

The victory boosts the Rams' record to 13-4 and extends their winning streak to two while Guelph falls to 11-6.

Ryerson will be back on the court for their final regular season contest at home Saturday afternoon. They'll host the Waterloo Warriors (8-8) at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Graduating seniors Livingston, Yan and Zeeman will be honoured beforehand for their time with the Rams.

"It's a super fun day for the seniors," said Betteridge, who graduated herself last season. "We try to make it special with things throughout the afternoon and then we go into the game… But, we just want to focus on the task at hand, play a good match and come out strong. Hopefully the girls can play a good one for our seniors."

First serve is scheduled to fly at 4:00 p.m.

NOTES: Vernon's 15 kills and 24 points are both season highs... Rams Live (the team of student broadcasters that put on all of Ryerson's home games) will be having their second annual Takeover during Saturday's game. Their entire broadcast crew, from the producer to the play-by-play commentator, will be female that night… The Rams will wrap up the 2016-17 regular season on Saturday, February 25th when they fly to Thunder Bay, Ont. to take on the Lakehead Thunderwolves (4-14).

Source: Ryerson Rams

Clunas has strong night in final home game as Warrior

It was a bitter sweet night for fifth year senior Casey Clunas (Harriston), who played her final regular season home game as a Warrior in a hard fought 3-1 loss to the McMaster Marauders on Friday night.  

Clunas has had an incredible career with the black and gold and Friday was no different as the middle blocker put up 8.5 puts with five kills, three service aces and one block.  McMaster won their 13th game of the season but it didn't come without a fight from the Warriors.  The Marauders won the first two sets 25-23, 25-20 before Waterloo earned the third set 25-22 thanks to strong play from Claire Mackenzie (Vancouver), Sammie Gwozdz (Waterloo) and Clunas. McMaster would however regain the momentum in the fourth set, winning it 25-15 to claim the match 3-1.  

With the loss Waterloo falls to .500 on the season with an 8-8 record, good for fourth in the OUA west with their 16 points.

Mackenzie also had a big night with 15 points on 14 kills and one block while adding an impressive 17 digs on the defensive side.  Emily Ibbotson (Cambridge) was also strong with six kills while Kayla Wierts (Drayton) had five.  Claire Gagne (Cambridge) finished with 29 assists in the match while libero Sarah Remedios (Ajax) collected 12 digs.  
McMaster was led by Rebecca Steckle who had 12 kills while Carly Heath was huge defensively with 22 digs.

Waterloo will now look to close out their season on a strong note after losing their last three.  The Warriors battle Ryerson tonight in Toronto before closing out their season next weekend against Toronto (Friday) and Trent (Saturday).

Source: Waterloo Warriors

Blues dominate Lancers on the road

The defending national champion University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team defeated the Windsor Lancers 3-0 (25-8, 25-10, 25-16) on Friday night (Feb. 17) at St. Denis Centre.
 
With the win, the No. 2 nationally ranked Blues improve to 16-0 having already clinched first place in the OUA East division. Only Toronto and Alberta of the Canada West have yet to drop a match in 2016-17.
 
Second-year right side hitter and OUA-leading point getter Alina Dormann notched a game-high 16.5 points on 10 kills, five aces and 1.5 blocks.
 
Second-year middle Anna Licht recorded 10.5 points on 10 kills and an assisted block, while rookie left Emma Armstrong had nine points and 13 digs on the night. Third-year left side Anna Feore also tallied nine points, adding seven digs, while veteran setter Madelyn Mandryk notched 30 assists and eight digs.
 
Fourth-year libero Asli Ersozoglu recorded a team-high 15 digs in the victory.
 
Windsor was led by Rachel Cauchi's five points, while Carleigh Bailey led all players with 15 digs.
 
The Varsity Blues have a quick turnaround as they head to London, Ont., to take on the No. 9 Western Mustangs on Saturday, February 18. Opening serve is set for 6 p.m.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues

Mustangs sweep Trent in straight sets

LONDON, Ont. – The Mustangs bounced back from last week's loss with a commanding three set win (25-18, 25-21, 25-14) against the Trent Excalibur at Alumni Hall on Friday night.  
 
With the win Western continues to lead the OUA West with a 14-2 record, with the Excalibur remaining sixth in the East with a 3-13 record.
 
"We weren't as consistent as we wanted to be, but we did pull it out in three," said setter Kat Tsiofas. "There were some moments where we let our energy drop a little, but overall we won in three and that's what we wanted to do so I think we're happy with our performance today."

Kelsey Veltman led the team offensively with 20.5 points across the three sets, recording 15 kills, three aces, two solo blocks, and one assisted block. Trent relied on Camile Garzon and Celena Kegels to generate points, with the duo combining for 15. Eight came from Garzon, while the remaining seven were contributed by Kegels. 
 
Western wasted no time in building up a substantial lead, outscoring the Excalibur 5-1 in the first minutes of the game. The point difference only increased as the technical approached, and the Mustangs went into the break with a seven-point advantage.
 
A three-point run from the purple and white right immediately following the technical forced the Excalibur to use their final time-out of the set in an attempt to staunch the steady flow of Mustang points.
 
The timeout did exactly what head coach Craig Barclay needed it to, and Trent returned to the floor to knock out eight consecutive points. Austen Condie served through the streak to bring the Excalibur within a few points of the Mustangs
 
However, the Mustangs got their momentum back after a kill from Veltman and rushed to a 25-18 win.
 
Trent opened up the second set by playing the same confident and aggressive game that allowed them a lengthy point run in the first set to stick close to the Mustangs score.
 
Helping the Excalibur stay afloat in their battle with one of the top offensive powers in the OUA was top-tier serving that saw only one error across the entire set.
 
"We knew coming in that they were a tough serving team," noted head coach Melissa Bartlett. "That's one of their strengths, and honestly as soon as out communication starts to slip everything else starts to fall apart."
 
It would again be Veltman who brought momentum and focus back to the Western side of the court, as she won the Mustangs the serve and proceeded to dominate from the baseline. The purple and white slowly edged away from their opponents and towards the 25-point mark.
 
"She did a great job as always," said Tsiofas about the 6-2 middle's performance. "She is one of those players that if you give them the ball, she'll put it away. She did a great job not just hitting tonight but also from the service line. We had a lot of service runs when she was back there serving, and she did a great job."
 
A missed serve from Trent would be the final play of the set, giving the Mustangs a 25-21 win and two set advantage.
 
Western again pushed the Excalibur into a deep deficit early on, but this time there was no mounting comeback.
 
The Mustangs continued their impressive offensive efficiency that has served them well as season long, while maintaining the focus and confidence that seemed to drop off in the earlier sets.
 
Veltman dominated at the net, frequently going on point runs of her own between hitting and blocking, to carry the Mustangs to a 25-14 victory.
 
"If you look at the last stretch of matches, it's probably the most mature volleyball games I've seen her play, especially with her decision making as a hitter," said Bartlett about Veltman's performance. "It's so great to have that outlet. She doesn't score all the time, but it's pretty consistent. We can rely on her. We know if we get the pass up there, she's going to put the ball away."
 
The Mustangs will be back in action tomorrow, February 18 when they host the OUA East leading U SPORTS No. 2 Varsity Blues.

Source: Western Mustangs