OUA Women's Volleyball Roundup (Feb. 5)
February 2, 2018
Windsor 3 Trent 0
The Lancer women's volleyball team split their final weekend road trip of the 2017-18 season. Windsor swept the Trent Excalibur Friday night 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-22) before falling 3-1 (17-25, 6-25, 25-21, 25-23) to the Ryerson Rams Saturday in Toronto.
Windsor doubled up on aces against the Excalibur, registering six to the hosts three aces.
The Blue & Gold had a balanced attack and were led by Paige Phills with 10 points off six kills. Jade Ziebarth and Lexi Pollard each had eight points apiece, while Kirsten Aasen had seven.
Megan Kalbfleisch finished the day with an outstanding 24 assists, while Carleigh Bailey had 10 digs defensively.
Source: golancers.ca
Western 1 Toronto 3
Third-year right side hitter Alina Dormann led all players with 19 points in leading the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 24-26, 25-21) victory over the Western Mustangs on Friday night (Feb. 2) at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
With the win, the Blues improve to 10-4 and remain in second place in the OUA East, while the Mustangs drop to 10-4 and stay in second place in the OUA West division.
Dormann tallied a game-high 14 kills, while adding three aces and two blocks for 19 points, and had 11 digs on the night. Fourth-year left side hitter Anna Feore notched 14 points off of 13 kills and one ace and added nine digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Brianna Patrick added 11 points on eight kills and three aces, while also leading all players with 20 digs.
Rayn Perry and Angelica Hovanessian split setting duties, tallying 19 and 20 assists, respectively, in the win.
The Blues got out to an 8-2 lead in the first set but Western battled back as U of T took a narrow 16-14 lead into the technical timeout. The Mustangs held on and brought the set within one (19-18), but it was all Toronto from there as the home team took a 1-0 match lead, 25-19.
U of T got out to another dominant start in the second, leading 10-3 in the early goings, but Western brought it within one (13-12). A kill from Dormann put U of T up 16-15 heading into the technical timeout. The Blues took over from there, ending the set on a 9-5 run to win it 25-20.
The third set started as a see-saw battle but the Mustangs pulled away and took a 16-10 advantage into the tech timeout. The Blues battled back with some solid serving from Natasha Lewis and evened the score at 20-20 and then again at 23-23, but the Mustangs prevailed with a 26-24 third set victory.
The Varsity Blues took an early 8-3 lead in the fourth and held a comfortable 16-8 advantage at the break. The Mustangs mounted a comeback though, and brought the game within three (23-20), but the Blues held on for the four-set victory, 25-21.
Three-time OUA West player of the year Kelsey Veltman led the Mustangs with 18 points off of 11 kills, a game-high five aces and two blocks in the loss.
Source: varsityblues.ca
February 3, 2018
McMaster 3 RMC 0
Continuing the rampant run of form that saw them run through January without dropping a set, McMaster achieved their ninth sweep of the season Saturday in Kingston.
The U SPORTS sixth-ranked Marauders comfortably outplayed the RMC Paladins en route to a 25-11, 25-18, 25-6 victory on the road, improving to 13-1 atop the OUA West division.
McMaster has won 22 consecutive sets dating back to December, 2017, and 13 straight matches since their season and home-opening contest in October.
Veteran middle Maicee Sorensen (Hamilton, ON) built on her lead atop the OUA's hitting charts, leading McMaster and the match with 11 kills, while adding four aces and a solo block for 16 points.
Her .500 hitting average, with just one error, moved Sorensen to a OUA-best .471 for the season.
Enjoying the majority of the playing time at setter, Michelle Chelladurai racked up 30 assists in the win, while outside Jill Eisenhauer led the Marauders with 10 digs.
McMaster held RMC to just .027 hitting Saturday, forcing 18 errors versus 21 kills from the Paladins, and conceding just 23 points.
On the other side of the net, the Marauders committed just seven errors as a group over three sets played, hitting .307 and pushing the Paladins from the service line with a team total of eight aces against just five service errors.
Source: marauders.ca
Brock 1 Queen’s 3
KINGSTON, Ont. (February 3, 2018) – The Queen's Gaels (10-4) took a four-set battle against the Brock Badgers (4-9) on home court 3-1. The scores of each set were 25-19, 25-16, 17-25 and 25-16.
GAME FLOW
Queen's got off to a quick start and took an early lead in the first set of the game. A kill by Isabelle Korchinski (Anmore, B.C.) and an ace by Natalie Crews (North Vancouver, B.C.) put the Gaels in the lead in the early stages, and Makayla Keith (Calgary) and Julia Wiercigroch(Mississauga, Ont.) created a four-point gap between the Tricolour and the Badgers. Brock found their footing again and tied up the first set at 6-6, but the Gaels managed to pick out holes in the Badgers defence. Shannon Neville (Cambridge, Ont.) had an unstoppable first set with six kills and an ace to the back right court to close the set with a score of 25-19 for the Gaels.
The second set continued the offensive momentum the Tricolour created in the first. Keith made a strong kill early in the set, finding a gap on the Badgers defence. The Gaels made numerous tips towards Brock, but the Badgers defence managed to rally and keep Queen's from taking the lead. The Tricolour accumulated several errors during this set which put them at a deficit. Blocks by Crews, kills by Wiercigroch and an ace by Neville redeemed the Tricolour and allowed them to take a two-point lead over the Badgers. A kill to the back court from Korchinski and blocking errors made by the Badgers lengthened the Gael lead to 21-16. An ace by Crews and two more kills to the central back court from Wiercigroch put Queen's at set point. A hit out of bounds from Brock ended the set with a score of 25-16 in favour of the Gaels.
Kills by Wiercigroch and Sierra Hardy (Oakville, Ont.) brought the Gaels off to a good start in the third set. The Gaels attempted many offensive attacks on the Badgers, but the Brock defence made quick reactions and digs, holding the Gaels from taking an early lead. Technical errors made by the Gaels gave the Badgers the lead. A solid block by Korchinski brought some defensive strength to Queen's, but strong defensive blocks from the Badgers allowed Brock to take the lead. An offensive error made the Tricolour end the third set with a score of 25-17 in favour of Brock.
The fourth set of the game started out evenly between the Gaels and the Badgers until tips sent over the net by Neville and aces made by Wiercigroch put Queen's in the lead. Errors made by Brock and defensive blocks from Korchinski allowed the Tricolour to extend their lead. Queen's took a seven-point lead on the Badgers. A kill right to centre court for Korchinski put the Gaels into position take the game and the set closed with a serving error by the Badgers and a score of 25-16.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
York 1 Lakehead 3
The Lakehead women’s volleyball team (4-12) beat the York Lions (7-7) 3-1 (25-20,25-23, 19-25, 25-18) this afternoon in the Thunderdome.
Lakehead had a strong start picking up the lead right out of the gate. The Thunderwolves led 16-13 at the technical timeout and carried on to take the first set 25-20.
The Thunderwolves continued their strong play in the second. York went on a short run but Lakehead kept their composure and brought themselves right back into the game, going up 21-19.
York was able to get a small lead at the end of the third, forcing a fourth set, but the Thunderwolves were determined to get the win today and turned it around in the fourth, with the Thunderwolves winning 25-18.
“Proud of the girls tonight to ‘let go’ of our performance the past couple weeks. They focused on York! We passed well tonight and the girls worked hard at giving Jen the option to run whatever she wanted. The other side that was nice was their focus after a stall in set 3. We came back in set 4 and controlled York with our serves. Again this is ALL on the girls and they studied, worked for it, and benefitted from their preparation. Now we have to prepare for Nipissing.” – Coach Chris Green
Leah Mousseau had 17 kills and 13 digs tonight while first year Haleigh Kearns had another good night with 13 kills. Rheanna Geisel also had 13 kills in addition to 3 aces.
The Thunderwolves also celebrated their Think Pink game while raising over $2,400 dollars to be put toward breast cancer research in Northern Ontario.
Source: thunderwolves.ca
Western 3 Trent 1
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – After four sets of action, the Western Mustangs topped the Trent Excalibur (25-22, 25-18, 21-25, 25-6) on Saturday night.
The win moves Western to 11-4 on the year, and the Mustangs continue to hold down second place in the OUA West standings. Trent now holds a 0-13 record and sit at the bottom of the OUA East.
Kelsey Veltman led the offensive effort for the Mustangs, scoring more than the two highest Excalibur athletes put together. Her 20.5 points came from 10 kills, five aces, three solo blocks, and five assisted blocks.
Defensively, the Mustangs were led by libero Courtney Sestric, and right side Aja Gyimah.
Camile Garzon was responsible for the bulk of Trent's points, recording 13. Carley Gougen followed up with seven. Combined the pair sit half of a point back from Veltman's total.
The first set was competitive, with the Mustangs narrowly topping the Excalibur by a score of 25-22. Western followed up with a 25-18 win in the following set, but Trent surged back for the third.
Unwilling to allow a straight sweep, Trent upended the Mustangs in the third set of the match to win by a four-point margin.
A set loss to Trent seemed to be all the Mustangs needed to refocus, as the team rushed through the final set to allow the Excalibur only six points, taking the fourth set 25-6 to claim the win.
Source: westernmustangs.ca
Guelph 3 Waterloo 2
WATERLOO – It took the Guelph Gryphons women's volleyball team a while to find their identity this season. The Gryphons have also developed a taste for winning the past month and they have had to dig deep recently to keep an impressive run of results going. Guelph came back from being down a set to defeat the Waterloo Warriors 3-2 (25-15, 22-25, 21-25, 25-18, 15-10) at the PAC on the U of W campus.
The win was Guelph's fifth in six matches in 2018 and second over the Warriors in the span of a week. According to head coach Paul Funk, it was also the Gryphons' first victory in Waterloo for many years. But in terms of the division standings, the result was huge. Guelph has rebounded from a 1-8 start to take over fourth in OUA West.
"This was a massive match in terms of playoff implications," said Funk, noting that a loss would've dropped his team to sixth place.
Funk said the Gryphons (6-9) were far from their best but they overcame struggles at various points of the match to pull out their fourth straight win.
"It was a gutty performance," he said with pride. "We hung around and bought some time before we finally found a little flow and energy.
"We got 'er done."
Second-year left side Michaela Hellinga was a catalyst, leading Guelph in both kills (16) and digs (16). Middle blocker Libby Donevan added 13 kills and 4 blocks, while second-year setter Alex Curranhad 42 assists and 15 digs.
"Michaela and Libby carried the offence tonight," said Funk.
But the coach said Guelph got an excellent contribution from first-year left side Ashley Vang. Fellow rookie Hazel Atkins had been suffering from the flu all week and Funk subbed Vang in for the ailing starter.
"Ashley stabilized us with her serves and defence," said Funk. "She brought energy to the floor and we were better."
Guelph was down 2-1 in sets and tied 15-15 in the fourth when Jessica Gormley produced a key stuff that spurred an 8-1 run. The Gryphons carried that momentum into the fifth set and three early mistakes from Waterloo would set the tone. Atkins got back into the match and had a big cross-court kill that gave Guelph a 7-5 lead, the second point in a 7-1 run that put the visitors in position to finish. They did exactly that when Donevan smashed a cross-court winner to secure the final set 15-10.
It was another clean outing for the Gryphons, who continue to focus on making their opponents misstep first. Guelph had 55 kills and just 16 errors in the five sets, while Waterloo managed 63 kills but had 36 errors.
"We began to get some blocks and our defence improved," Funk said of Guelph's turnaround in the fourth set. "We started to zone in a little more."
Source: gryphons.ca
Windsor 1 Ryerson 3
TORONTO - After going undefeated in the third set for 14 straight games, the Ryerson Rams would give up the third to the Windsor Lancers but take a 3-1 (25-17, 25-6, 21-25, 25-23) match victory to improve to a perfect 15-0 record on the season.
The Rams would dominate the first and second sets of the matchup, easily getting past the Lancers’ defense. Ryerson would only make two errors in the second set, heading into the third with a 2-0 lead in the match.
Windsor put up a strong fight in the third and fourth sets. The Rams made a combined 16 errors in the final half of the game but showed resilience in tallying a match victory in the fourth set, something head coach Dustin Reid was happy about.
“I’m glad we got to play in some intense moments, we haven’t had as many as we need,” said Reid. “I’m happy with the result, we certainly played well early in the match. [...] But, if we’re measuring our performance against what is going to be necessary down the road, I don’t think we can be satisfied.”
Ryerson’s Cailin Wark (Georgetown, Ont.) had 12 kills on the matchup. Wark said the team played well today but there are some things they will need to improve on moving forward.
“We lost a little bit of focus in the third set but we battled back in the fourth. Windsor really picked up their game and we just had to battle back. We dealt with a lot of tough points and did the best we could,” said Wark.
Looking ahead, the Rams will enjoy a 13-day break before taking on RMC on February 16th. Reid said this time will be beneficial to the team, but a lot of work is still to be done before the playoffs arrive.
“We’ve got some time to really work on some areas that we need to,” said Reid. “Better team play, controlling the ball well on our side, setting and attacking the ball, how we cover, how we defend - those things all need to improve if we’re going to play at a championship level.”
Source: ryersonrams.ca
February 4, 2018
Brock 3 RMC 1
The Brock University women's volleyball team defeated the Trent Excalibur by the score of 3-0 Sunday afternoon at the Bob Davis Gymnasium.
Today's game was the final event of the Badgers for Breast Cancer Weekend which was put on by the Brock women's hockey, basketball and volleyball teams. Together Brock Sports raise $3300 to be donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Niagara Division.
Each year the Brock Badgers student-athletes get involved with many community initiatives where they give back and make a difference. Both the men's and women's teams from Brock and Trent were decked out in pink promoting breast cancer awareness.
Leading the Badgers offense was Renee Helmer who finished with 10 kills and five digs. Laura Condottacollected eight kills and eight digs well Tori Carroll chipped in with six kills in the victory.
For the match Brock collected 43 kills with 11 errors on 100 attempts for a .330 hitting percentage. Trent was held to just 18 kills with 15 errors on 82 attempts for a .037 hitting percentage.
Source: gobadgers.ca
McMaster 0 Queen’s 3
KINGSTON, Ont. (February 4, 2018) – The Queen's Gaels (11-4) swept the No.6 McMaster Marauders (13-2) in straight sets 3-0 handing the Marauders their first loss since October. The scores of each set were 25-18, 25-20 and 25-23.
GAME FLOW
In the first set, the Gaels took an early lead off strong offensive cross-court kills from Julia Wiercigroch (Mississauga, Ont.) and blocks by Natalie Crews (North Vancouver, B.C.). A kill down the right line for Crews and a tip over the Marauders defence for Shannon Neville (Cambridge, Ont.) continued the Gaels offensive momentum and kept Queen's in the lead. The Marauders defence continuously fielded digs on the Queen's offence but were unable to make kills of their own to close the gap created by the Tricolour.
Neville made two aces to bring the set to 24-18, and the Marauders gave up the set on a serve sent out of bounds. The Gaels took the frame with a score of 25-18. For McMaster, the set loss snapped a streak of 22 straight sets won.
The second set started out evenly between the Gaels and the Marauders, going back and forth for possession of the lead early on. An ace and several centre court kills from Makayla Keith (Calgary) gave the Tricolour a short lead over McMaster. The Marauders played a solid defensive game, making digs on the Gaels offensive attempts but the Gaels continued to push kills into the pockets of McMaster's court. The Marauders got their offensive footing back and tied the set at 17-all, but unreturnable kills from Neville put the Gaels in the lead again. The Gaels ended the set with a cross-court kill from Isabelle Korchinski (Anmore, B.C.) taking the frame with a score of 25-20.
The Tricolour got off to a quick lead early in the third set, with an ace from Korchinski and a kill from Keith. The Marauders retorted with multiple offensive plays but kills to the backcourt from Wiercigroch, and Neville kept the lead in Queen's possession. Digs by Wiercigroch maintained the Gaels defence in the third set and allowed the Tricolour offence to thrive. Tips by Sierra Hardy (Oakville, Ont.) and kills from Wiercigroch kept the Gaels in the game, but the Marauders capitalized on kill opportunities tying up the set at 16 all. The Gaels began to find their offensive groove and pulled away from the Marauders only to be tied again at 22. The McMaster defence showed their strengths with defensive blocks, but errors made by the Marauders put the Gaels in position to win the match. A kill to the back-right corner won the Gaels the set and the game with a score of 25-23.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
Nipissing 3 Lakehead 0
It was a long way to go for a victory, but the Nipissing Lakers women's volleyball team will take it.
The Lakers snapped out of a slump thanks to a straight sets sweep of the Lakehead Thunderwolves Sunday afternoon in Thunder Bay.
Nipissing had three players hit double digits in points on their way to victory and moved into fourth place, the final playoff spot, thanks to the win.
Nipissing claimed wins of 25-20, 25-14 and 25-20 to earn the victory.
Cassie Dobson led the way with 11.5 points, Olivia Robinson had 11, Erika Lapierre had 10.5 and Annabelle Harvey added 8.5 in the victory.
The Lakers will now look to get on a roll as they host a pair of matches this weekend.
Source: nulakers.ca