M-VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: Waterloo ends No. 6 Western's win streak

Windsor Lancers @ Waterloo Warriors

The Warriors battled back from two sets down to earn an emotional 3-2 (20-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-13) upset victory over the Windsor Lancers on Friday night in Waterloo. 

It was a tale of two different teams with Windsor jumping out of the gates with all of the momentum  before Waterloo found their attack in the third set to fight their way back and earn their sixth win of the season to move to 6-6 on the season.  Windsor fell to 8-4 with the loss.

Second year outside hitter Fiodar Kazhamiaka (Waterloo) was a force once again for the Warriors with a game high 21 points including 19 kills while setter Scott Thomson (St. Marys) was a catalyst for the black and gold with 51 assists.

Windsor took control of the match in the early going with a 25-20 first set win before a spirited second set would see both teams battle for net presence.  With Windsor up 15-13, Waterloo would respond to even the score at 15 and both squads would go point for point to make it 21 all.  The Lancers would notch the next three points and sneak away with a 25-23 set win.

A new Waterloo team would appear in the third set with Kazhamiaka and Thomson leading the charge.  Cameron Wheelan (Barrie) and James Evans (Rockwood/Warriors) would step up their game as well to get the Warriors back in the game with a 25-20 third set win.

Windsor would continue to have no answer for the re-energized Warrior squad in the fourth as they would match their third set score of 25-20.

The fifth and final set would cap off a spectacular evening of volleyball with Waterloo earning the early edge in the set before Windsor would tie it up at 5-5.  The set would continue to go back and forth before a well disguised dump by Thomson would give Waterloo a 12-11 lead. 

Waterloo would take the first two point lead of the set off of a Kazhamiaka block at 13-11.  Following an exchange of side-out's Windsor's Ryan Le (Windsor, Ont.) would put up a service error to hand Waterloo the final set (15-13) and match.

Evans and Wheelan finished the game with 14 and 13 kills respectively while Tyler Motherwell (Scarborough/Warriors) and Jordan Dyck (St. Catharines) rounded out the attack with six kills each.

Harrison Oake (Rodney, Ont.) led the Lancers with 20 points including 19 kills and one block while adding three digs in the loss.  Kyle Williamson (Essex, Ont.) added 15 kills with setter Will Alexander (Windsor, Ont.) putting up 39 assists.

Source: Warriors Athletics

GUELPH, Ont. – Mathew Waite contributed 15 points in Western’s 3-0 over the Guelph Gryphons (8-4) Friday night. With set scores of 25-16, 25-16 and 25-18), the No. 6 Mustangs remain atop the OUA.

The Mustangs had no problem overpowering the Gryphons’ defense in the first set, led by second year power Garrett May.

Renewed energy from Guelph in the second did not deter the Mustangs who came out on top 25-16.

A hard-fought third set came out in favour of the Mustangs 25-18.

Waite (12 kills) and Mathieu Poulin (10 kills, 3 aces, 5 digs) led the Mustangs.

Winston Rosser led the Gryphons offense with 10 kills, one ace and three digs.

Source: Mustangs Athletics

Hamilton, Ont. - The McMaster men's volleyball team took down the visiting Royal Military College Paladins on Friday night at Burridge Gymnasium. Winning the match in three straight sets, the Marauders set scores were 25-17, 25-12, 25-16.

With an early 6-2 lead for McMaster, an RMC block on Jori Mantha (Vanier, Ont.)  would put them with three but that's as close as they would get all set. A big kill from Kevin Stevens (Winnipeg, M.B.) from the back row would put the Marauders back up by four and they would continue to dominate throughout the set. Tough serves throughout the set resulted in a number of shanks from the Paladins.

After the technical timeout with the Marauders up 16-9 thanks to a block from Mantha on the outside, McMaster's middles started to put up good numbers towards the first set win. The lead got as large as 10 points at 21-11 with a few missed serves from the visiting team. A big block in the middle by Ian Cooper (Edmonton, Alta.) would make it 23-13. The Paladins called a timeout at that point abut it wouldn't help as the Marauders finished off the set with two more points for the 25-13 win.

In the second, the Marauders would score six straight before RMC put a point on the board. A number of mistakes from the Paladins allowed McMaster to dominate. Cooper would stretch the Marauders lead to nine with a kill from an RMC overpass and at the technical timeout the scoreboard would read 16-5. McMaster cruised to the end of the set, allowing RMC to score only seven more points after the timeout. The set would end with a kill from middle Michael Sjonnesen (Cambridge, Ont.) at 25-12. Cooper would have a game-high eight points going into the third. 

In the third, Chris Spack (Orleans, Ont.) would come in to set in replacement of Austin Campion-Smith (Bowmanville, Ont.). With the help of two different setters as well as contribution for middles Cooper and Sjonnesen, the Marauders would easily defeat the Paladins in the last set of the game 25-16 on a kill from Cooper in the middle. 

Outside hitter Daniel Groenveld (Welland, Ont.) would record a game-high 12 kills and an ace for 13 points. Cooper would add another eight kills, one ace and three blocks for 12 points and Sjonnesen would earn another six kills and two blocks for the Marauders. Setter Spack was named the Big Mac Player of the Game for McMaster, recording 16 assists. 

For RMC, the Big Mac Player of the Game was Eric Hawn (London, Ont.). Tyler Leknois (Kingston, Ont.) recorded a team-high nine kills for the Paladins.

The York University Lions men's volleyball team earned a 3-0 victory over the RMC Paladins at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 14).

Source: Lions Athletics

For the second straight night the Warriors came back from two sets down to earn a 3-2 victory as they handed the No. 6 Western Mustangs their first loss of the season in a thrilling night of volleyball for the black and gold.

Fifth year outside hitter Cameron Wheelan (Barrie) led all Waterloo players with 17 kills in the match while James Evans (Rockwood) added 12.  Scott Thomson (St. Marys) was stellar for the second straight night with 50 assists and 13 digs.

Waterloo dropped the first two sets 25-17, 25-18 as the Western Mustangs proved why they are the top team in the OUA but a new Waterloo team showed up for the third set to start their comeback run.

In what was the set of the match Waterloo and Western would battle back and forth with the Warriors edging the Mustangs 28-26 to get themselves back in the match. 

Waterloo would carry their momentum for the final two sets and clip the Mustangs 25-23, 15-13 to earn the upset victory.

Adding to the attack was Fiodar Kazhamiaka (Waterloo) who had 11 kills on 21 attempts for a 0.38 kill percentage.  Kazhamiaka also chipped in defensively with 16 digs while rookie Erich Woolley (New Dundee) was a standout defensive player with a game high 24 digs.

For the Mustangs Garrett May (Scarborough, Ont.) led the way with 20 kills while Phil James (Ottawa, Ont.) put down 15 kills and four service aces.  Setter Sean McKay (Sudbury, Ont.) put up a game high 57 assists in the match.

Waterloo moved above .500 for the first time this season with a 7-6 record while Western's bid for a perfect season was spoiled and they now sit at 12-1.

The Warriors look for their third straight win next weekend as they face the McMaster Marauders on Friday at 8pm.

Source: Warriors Athletics

Windsor Lancers @ Guelph Gryphons

At Guelph, the Lancers started out strong and only a few minutes into the game had already built a solid seven point lead over the Gryphons. Guelph struggled with returning Windsor’s attacks. The Lancers had good line-up including outside hitter Kyle Williamson (Essex, ON) who helped lead the Lancers with 11 total kills.  The Lancers took set one 25-14.
 
Guelph came into set two ready to go, and took an early lead. Guelph put enough pressure on the Lancers to stay on top for most of the set, forcing the Lancers to call multiple time-outs to regroup.

Windsor will travel to face the Western Mustangs next Friday night at 8:00pm in London.

Hamilton, Ont. - The McMaster men's volleyball team finished out Marauder Weekend with a five set win over the Queen's Gaels. Set scores in favour of the home team were 25-19, 17-25, 24-26, 26-24, 15-10.

In the first set, McMaster would gain the early lead of three points at 8-5 with big kills from Tyson Alexander (Shanty Bay, Ont.) and Jori Mantha (Vanier, Ont.). Queen's would finally be forced to call a timeout as the Marauders went ahead by four at 12-8 and would maintain that lead through to 18-14 with strong hitting from captain Jeremy Groenveld (Welland, Ont.). The Gaels would get within one at 18-17 but a missed serve from setter Jackson Dakin (Courtenay, B.C.) would give the Marauders their cushion back. Back up by four at 21-17, the Marauders sailed to the first set win 25-19. 

Both teams battled hard at the beginning of the first trading points all the way through to 11. Two big kills from Queen's allow them to go back up by two and at the technical timeout the Gaels would be ahead 16-14. Later in the set, a setter dump would throw off the Marauders defence and Queen's would go up by three points. A miss-hit from Mantha would push Queens' lead to four and the Gaels would continue to push through and capitalize on McMaster's mistakes, allowing them to take the second set 25-17. 

With the sets all tied up at one, both teams came out in the third fighting hard. McMaster would go ahead 7-5 early on with a big kill but that would follow with an ace from Queen's and later the usage of a Marauder block for a point from 2011 CIS All-Canadian Joren Zeeman (Cambridge, Ont.) to tie the score at nine. Later on a big block from second-year Kevin Stevens (Winnipeg, Man.) would put the Marauders back up by three at 12-9. 

The Marauders would let that lead slip away though as blocks and big kills from the Gaels would tie it up at 14 and eventually allow them to go ahead 16-14 at the technical timeout. The Gaels would maintain that two point lead through to 21-19. A big block by the Marauders up front would get them within one and later a kill from Groenveld would get them within one again at 22-21. At 24-23, Mantha would keep the Marauders alive with a kill from the outside to tie it up but Queen's would win the set on a block in the middle at 26-24 to go ahead 2-1 in the match. 

In a must-win situation for the Marauders, both teams got off to a decent start, but it was Queen's that would take the first significant lead of the set. With kills on the outside from Zeeman for the Gaels and Mantha for the Marauders, Queen's saw their lead extend to four at 9-5. With some msitakes going in McMaster's favour though, the Marauders would catch up at 11-10 and eventually tie the score up at 13 with a miss-hit by Queen's. A huge block by middle Michael Sjonnesen (Cambridge, Ont.) would put the Marauders ahead at 14-13. Despite a big hit from Groenveld to go up 15-14, an ace from Queen's while the score was tied up at 15 would send both teams to the bench at the technical timeout. 

After that, the Gaels would come out flying and after a kill from Michael Amoroso (Toronto) to give Queen's the 3 point lead at 19-16, the Marauders would be forced to call a timeout. Regrouping after the timeout, the Marauders would put together a kill and two blocks to get within one at 20-19. Later, at 22-21, Mantha would use a Queen's block for the kill to tie it up at 22. Once again, Mantha would connect with setter Chris Spack (Orleans, Ont.) for a big kill to tie it up at 23. The Marauders would go on to win the set 26-24, with missed serves from Queen's a big kill from Sjonnesen to send the game to a fifth set. 

Trading points once again, both teams came out with big kills on the outside. The Marauders would take their first lead of the set at 4-3 thanks to a roll shot from Groenveld that threw the Gaels' defence off guard. At the change the Marauders would have the two point lead at 8-6 and would continue to build on it. Going up 10-7 with a big kill from middle Alex Elliott (Cobourg, Ont.) and then 11-7 with a block from Elliott, the Marauders would finish off the game with a 15-10 win on a kill from Stevens. 

Team captain Jeremy Groenveld would record a game high 16 kills for the Marauders. Jori Mantha also earnd double digist numbers with 12 kills two aces and two blocks for 16 points on the night. Kevin Stevens was named the Big Mac Player of the Game for his 11 kills, three blocks and nine digs and libero Sean Lowe (Hamilton, Ont.) recorded 10 digs. 

For the Gaels, Joren Zeeman earned 17 points with 15 kills and two blocks. Middle Anthony Pitfield (Ottawa, Ont.) earned 10 kills, an ace and four blocks for fifteen points and setter Jackson Dakin was named Big Mac Player of the Game for Queen's with 45 assists and eight digs. 

The Marauders host the Waterloo Warriors and the Guelph Gryphons on Friday and Saturday, respectively, with both games being played at Burridge Gymnasium at 8:00 p.m. 

TORONTO, Ont. (January 15, 2012)- The Queen's Gaels (7-6) used their bench depth to defeat the York Lions (5-6) today in five sets (25-19, 17-25, 18-25, 25-17, 15-6). After winning the first set, the Gaels were forced to rally in the fourth set after dropping two in a row to force a final and decisive fifth set.

The Gaels called upon the talents of 14 players throughout the game, with all but two playing in more than 1 set. Jackson Dakin of Courtenay, B.C. led the team with 39 assists, 9 digs, and 3 solo blocks.

Offensively, the Gaels were driven by Joren Zeeman of Cambridge, Ont. who posted 14 kills, 13 digs, and 5 block assists. Will Sidgwick of Toronto was not far behind with 10 kills.

The best effort from the Lions came from Ray Szeto of Sutton, Ont., who smashed home 16 kills, while also grinding out 16 digs throughout the course of the match.

The Gaels play next on Friday against a winless RMC squad (0-13). Start time in Kingston is set for 7:00 pm. 

Source: Gaels Athletics

OUA SCHEDULE & RESULTS

January 13, 2012
Windsor, 2 @ Waterloo, 3
Western, 3 @ Guelph, 0
RMC, 0 @ McMaster, 3

January 14, 2012
RMC, 0 @ York, 3
Western, 2 @ Waterloo, 3
Windsor, 3 @ Guelph, 0
Queen's, 2 @ McMaster, 3

January 15, 2012
Queen's, 3 @ York, 2

January 20, 2012
7:00 pm - York @ Toronto
7:00 pm - Queen's @ RMC
8:00 pm - Waterloo @ McMaster
8:00 pm - Windsor @ Western