January 20, 2014
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: Waterloo downs York 3-2 to claim a share of second place
Friday, January 17
York 2 @ Waterloo 3
The Warrior men's volleyball team continues to find ways to win and did so again on Friday night in a thrilling 5-set victory over the visiting York Lions at the PAC. The nationally ranked Warriors flexed their muscles in the fifth set taking it 15-9 to earn their 10th win of the season.
Waterloo opened the contest with a convincing 25-17 set victory but the resilient Lions bounced back to even the game with a 25-21 second set win.
The see-saw affair continued in the third with Waterloo once again earning the edge 25-21 but York would force a fifth and deciding set after winning the fourth 25-22.
Waterloo would cap off the night winning the deciding set 15-9 to improve to 10-3 on the season. The loss drops York to 9-4.
Middle blocker Jordan Dyck (St. Catharines) was strong for the black and gold with 15 kills on just 23 attempts. The fourth year recreation and leisure student also led all players with eight blocks.
Outside hitters Zachary Doherty (Goderich) and James Evans (Rockwood) were also key parts of Waterloo's offence with 13 and 12 kills respectively.
Setter Scott Thomson (St. Marys) was lights out with 50 assists while Erich Woolley (New Dundee) had 16 digs in the victory.
For the Lions it was OUA leader in kills Ray Szeto doing his thing with 20 put away's while his teammate Nicolas Pirnat had 14 in a losing effort.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
Queen’s 3 @ Windsor 2
The Windsor Lancers men's volleyball team battled, but came up just short against the visiting Queen's Gaels on Friday evening at the St. Denis Centre, falling to the visitors in five sets (25-17, 18-25, 21-25, 25-18, 14-16).
It was the second time in a row that the Lancers lost to the Gaels in five sets, as Queen's was able to squeak out a victory in Kingston, Ont. on November 30 in the teams' final conference game before the holidays. That was the start of the men's current four-game losing streak which they will look to snap on Saturday night against RMC.
Scott Hickman picked up a team-high 14 kills and game-best 5.0 total blocks for 19 points, while Greg Simone recorded 11 kills for the Lancers, who drop to 4-9 on the year and sit tied for eighth-place in the OUA. With the win, Queen's was able to put some distance between themselves and the teams chasing them for the final playoff spot in the conference. The Gaels sit at 6-7, holding down sixth-place in the league. Mike Tomlinson grabbed a contest-high 23 kills and 26.5 points to help Queen's to their third victory in their past four contests.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
RMC 0 @ Western 3
LONDON, Ont. -- The Western Mustangs men's volleyball team hosted the Royal Military College Friday evening at Alumni Hall to kick off their weekend double-header. After three sets, the Mustangs added another win to their regular season, defeating the Paladins 3-0 with set scores of 25-15, 25-9 and 25-18.
Mustang Phil James put up a service ace early on to solidify a lead that from which the Paladins could not recover. The set continued with the Mustangs taking an eight-point lead at the technical timeout and were up by ten points by the end of the set. Veteran Garrett May added another service ace to the scoreboard and Justin Scapinello tallied seven kills. Despite their efforts, the RMC could not retaliate and lost the set 25-15.
Moving into the second set, the Mustangs kept up their momentum with an unmatched 10-point advantage. The distraction tactics used by the Paladins failed to throw off their host and Western dominated the court finishing off the set with a score of 25- 9.
The third set had the Mustangs taking off their starters and the Paladins took the lead advancing by four unanswered points. That was not enough though to slow down the Mustangs who, perhaps procrastinated a bit longer, but eventually took the lead at 17-16. The Paladins called a time out at 19-16 to regroup and returned to the set unable to make a comeback. This was by far the most competitive set of the night with a nail-biting finish for the Mustangs who took the set 25-18.
"We started off a little nervous," said Mustang head coach Jim Sage on the intense final set, "and we really didn't want to go into a fourth set, but as the set progressed they became more confident and I'm proud of how they finished."
Scapinello led the Mustangs with eight kills, one ace and three digs, while the Paladins' Thomas McMullen contributed three kills, four digs and one solo block to the match.
Source: Western Sports Info
Nipissing1 @ Guelph 3
Guelph, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphon's men's volleyball team defeated the visiting Nipissing Lakers 3-1 on Friday night. Set scores were 20-25, 25-21, 26-24 and 25-22. The win improves the Gryphon's record to 5-8 on the season.
Marc Wilson led the Gryphon's in scoring with 13 points (10 kills, 3 blocks). Patrick Strzalkowski chipped in with 12 points (9 kills, 2 aces, 1 block).
Frankie Edgecombe led the Nipissing Lakers in offense with 20 points (14 kills, 2 aces, 4 blocks).
The first set opened with plenty of back and forth scoring keeping things close. A massive smash from Guelph's Luke Woud tied things up at five and capped off three straight points for the Gryphon's. The back and forth play continued for much of the set with neither side capable of capturing and maintaining the lead or momentum. Another great play by the 6'8" Guelph monster Luke Woud, this time a block, evened up the score at 18. Guelph's Marc Wilson also chipped in with several key blocks in the set. However despite these efforts, the Lakers finally managed to pull ahead 20-18, and eventually took the set 25-20.
In the second set Guelph jumped out to an early 6-2 lead. They would maintain this edge for the greater part of the set. Nipissing started to push back, but Guelph maintained their poise. Rafael Leite made several nice plays in the set to keep Guelph's lead, including a few athletic digs to set up Guelph smashes. A massive block from Marc Wilson followed by a smart tip by Kyle Richards gave Guelph the final two points of the set to even the match up at one set apiece. Guelph took the set 25-21.
The third set was another very even affair between the Gryphon's and the Lakers. Back to back points from Marc Wilson tied the set up early, 3-3. Guelph then took the next four points, taking the lead 7-3. Nipissing battled back from the deficit, eventually taking the lead, 16-15. However Guelph did not let this slip phase them, as they re-took the lead 20-17. Up 24-21 Guelph allowed Nipissing to tie the set up at 24, but again Guelph was not scared, as they eventually took the set 26-24 off another smart play by Kyle Richards.
With a 2-1 set lead over the Lakers, Guelph was hoping to secure the match in the fourth set. Once again, back and forth scoring seemed to be the story in this set, with Guelph eventually taking a 10-7 lead. Yet another block from Marc Wilson made it 12-9 for the Gryphon's. Strong play from Kyle Richards and Luke Woud helped keep Guelph's lead safe. Back to back kills from Luke Woud and Patrick Strzalkowski gave Guelph a two-point edge, 18-16. The Lakers did make things interesting at the end, tying things up at 21. However, a Connor Cressman block gave Guelph the lead right back, which they would not surrender again. Rafael Leite finished off the Lakers with a tricky serve that could not be handled, giving Guelph the fourth and final set, 25-22.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
Saturday, January 18
Nipissing 1 @ Waterloo 3
The Waterloo men's volleyball picked up their fourth straight win in 2014 to improve to 11-3 on the season taking care of the OUA newcomers Nipissing Lakers in four sets.
The win puts Waterloo in a tie for second overall in the OUA standings while McMaster continues to dominate the conference at 13-0 dropping only six sets in the process.
Waterloo came out flying with their veterans on the court winning the opening set 25-10 but Nipissing showed their fight in the second pushing the Warriors to the brink. The black and gold did however manage to escape with the 30-28 set victory to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
Nipissing continued to show their bright future in the third set winning it 25-22 but could not handle the Waterloo vets in the fourth set as Waterloo took the match winning the set 25-16.
Waterloo's balanced attack was led by James Evans (Rockwood/Warriors) who had 10 kills and added three blocks. Fifth year outside hitter Aleks Poldma (Toronto/Warriors)had seven kills and five digs while rookie Jordan McConkey (Stratford) saw some extended court time and made the most of it with six kills.
Fifth year Scott Thomson (St. Marys) and rookie Gibson Graham (Markham) shared the setting duties and combined for 38 assists in the match. At the net Tyler Motherwell(Toronto/Warriors) stood tall with six blocks.
On the visiting side of the net Nipissing's Cameron Branch led all players with 13 kills while Frankie Edgecombe had 10.
The Warriors now turn their attention to one of their biggest contests of 2014 to date welcoming the mighty Marauders to the PAC on Friday night at 8pm. The last time the two teams met Waterloo gave the number one team in the country a scare but came up short in five sets. The contest can be seen live on Warriors TV.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
Queen’s 1 @ Western 3
LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs men's volleyball team took on the Queen's Gaels Saturday evening at Alumni Hall and came away with a 3-1 win, their third consecutive home win of 2014. With set scores of 23-25, 25-20, 25-22 and 25-17, it was clear that the Gaels came out to play.
"Games like this build character and will help us so much later on in the playoffs and in the rest of our regular season," said Mustangs head coach Jim Sage.
The Mustangs and Gaels battled hard in the first set, but neither team could take more than a two-point lead until after the technical timeout when the Gaels pulled ahead 21-16 thanks to a four-point run, including three services aces from Gael Mike Tomlinson. Queen's secured their set 25-23 win and Western went down 0-1.
Western jumped out of the gates early in the second frame, and took a seven-point advantage over the Gaels before allowing their counterparts to come back within four points. A long rally and a cross-court attack from Phil James gave the Mustangs the final point needed to take the set 25-20 and tie the game 1-1.
The action continued into the third set as Mustangs Sean McKay and Garrett May went on serving streaks of their own, helping the Mustangs to a 7-1 lead before trading points once again with the Gaels. Before the technical break, the Gaels had come within three points of the Mustangs at 16-13, then tying the set at 20. In a crucial position, not wanting to drop 1-2 in the game, James put up a solo block for the Mustangs, who secured their third set 25-22.
Heading into the fourth, Queen's put up their best offence and defence, however Western, now even more motivated to seal the deal, came out hitting hard. The Gaels though only allowed the Mustangs a three-point advantage halfway through the set and trailed 13-16. Looking relaxed and playing their own game, the Mustangs knew what they had to do, and finished the set 25-17.
May led the Mustangs on offense with 21 kills and two service aces, followed by Justin Scapinello who added 14 kills of his own, along with three service aces.
The Gaels were led by Tomlinson with 23 kills and four aces.
The Mustangs will head out next weekend, Friday, January 25 and Saturday, January 26 to Toronto to take on the Ryerson Rams and the Toronto Varsity Blues.
Source: Western Sports Info
RMC 1 @ Windsor 3
The Windsor Lancer men's volleyball team defeated the RMC Paladins in four sets (25-12, 25-22, 25-27, 25-14)) on Breast Cancer Awareness Day Saturday night at the St. Denis Centre.
Ryan Leknois led the Lancers with a team-high 11 kills, while outside hitter Greg Simone, Chad Hinchey, and Alex Vikovic each added eight kills for the men, who rebounded after a tough five set loss to the Queen's Gaels Friday night.
Windsor garnered a .138 kill percentage compared to .039 from the Paladins (0-14). RMC was led by Adam Lupton who had a game high 13 kills and 15 points.
The Lancers will travel to the provincial capital next weekend where they will take on the Toronto Varsity Blues and Ryerson Rams. They return home for their final home weekend of the regular season on February 1st and 2nd when they host the Nipissing Lakers and York Lions.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
York 3 @ Guelph 1
Guelph, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphon's men's volleyball team were defeated in a close contest by the visiting York Lions 3-1 on Saturday night. Set scores were 25-18, 24-26, 25-23 and 25- 23. The loss drops the Gryphon's record to 5-9 on the season.
Patrick Strzalkowski led the Gryphon's in scoring with 16 points (8 kills, 8 aces). Luke Woud chipped in with 13 points (10 kills, 2 aces, 1 block).
Marko Dakic led the York Lions in offense with 20 points (17 kills, 3 aces).
York took control of the first set early on, getting a quick 7-3 lead. Both sides treated the fans in attendance to a few quality rallies in the beginning part of the set, but despite that York remained in control for the majority of the first set. York started increasing their lead, going up 18-12, and eventually taking the set 25-18. Marc Wilson led Guelph with four kills, Luke Woud added another two kills of his own, and Kyle Richards chipped in with 12 assists.
In the second set York took the lead early once again, gaining a 6-2 advantage over the Gryphon's. Guelph battled back to take the lead, 7-6. The set was much closer than the first, with both teams battling for control. Another huge Luke Woud kill tied things up at 16. Strong serving from Guelph's Patrick Strzalkowski provided the type of spark the Gryphon's needed, as he had four service aces in the set. Guelph took the lead late, 23-21, but could not put York away as the Lions tied the set up at 24. A York service error followed by another Patrick Strzalkowski ace gave Guelph the set, 26-24, to even things up at one set apiece.
The third set was another close affair early with Guelph on top 6-3. York battled to take the 7-6 lead over the Gryphon's shortly thereafter. Plenty of back and forth scoring ensued from here, with Guelph re-capturing their lead 13-11. A York miscue gave Guelph the 16-12 lead, and forced the Lions into a timeout. Momentum seemed to be firmly in Guelph's favour up 18-13, but somehow York was able to string a few points together to make it a 19-19 tie. York captured the lead 21-20, but a Luke Woud smash would even things up once again. York pulled things out in the end, taking the exciting 3rd set 25-23.
York took control of the fourth set early on, going up 5-1 on the Gryphon's. Guelph took 6 of the next 8 points to tie things up at seven. Once again, neither team seemed capable of taking control of the game as things were tied up at nine and then again at 11 and 12. York then took four of the next six to go up16-14. York slowly started to slip away, extending their lead to 19-16. Guelph made things interesting late thanks to some strong serving by Jordan MacIntyre, but York would pull out the set victory 25-23, giving them the match.
The Gryphon's play again January 25 at home against the Waterloo Warriors at 4 pm.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
McMaster 3 @ Toronto 0
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-20, 25-10, 27-25) to the No. 1 McMaster Marauders on Saturday, January 18 at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
The Blues drop to 4-10 and sit in ninth place, while the Marauders remain undefeated (13-0) and sit atop the OUA standings.
Dave Merritt led the Blues with six kills, while William Colucci had four kills, three blocks and three digs in the loss.
The points went back and forth to start the first set but the Marauders pulled away to take a 10-6 lead. Toronto rallied back to even the score at 15-15 midway through the frame. The Blues kept pace with the top-ranked team, but McMaster ended the set on a 6-1 run to take it 25-20.
The Marauders got out to a 5-1 lead early in the second and went onto dominate the entire set en route to a 25-10 win. McMaster built another 8-3 lead to start the third, but the Blues mounted a huge rally and took a 16-14 lead at the technical time out. The Marauders then showed why they are the top team in the CIS, coming from behind to complete the shutout 27-25.
Jori Mantha led the Marauders with 12 kills, while Shayne Herbert added 11 in the victory.
The Varsity Blues return to action next weekend (Jan. 25-26) as they host the Windsor Lancers and Western Mustangs during U of T's annual Think Pink week. Game time on both days is 12 p.m.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Sunday, January 19
McMaster 3 @ Ryerson 1
TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams men’s volleyball team put up a gritty fight against the No. 1 ranked McMaster Marauders but fell short in a 3-1 loss at home on Sunday evening.
The first set saw back and forth play between the teams before McMaster started pulling away and lead 16-10 at the technical time out. The Marauders added a series of big hits to extend their lead, and at game point a tight triple block sealed the first set for the visitors as the Rams fell 25-19.
The second set saw an explosion of power from the Ryerson bench as they took the lead 9-8 which was largely aided by an Alex Dawson (Scarborough, Ont.) five point run. The Rams executed excellent blocking and hitting throughout the set and shut down the number one offence in the country. They found themselves leading 19-14 when McMaster called a timeout following a Robert Wojcik (Whitby Ont.) missile to the back court. They continued this pressure and handily took the second set 25-16, joining Western and Waterloo as the only teams to take a set off the Marauders.
Early in the third set back to back service aces by Jeff Ardron (Lakefield, Ont.) put Ryerson up 6-3, but they couldn’t hang on to the lead for long as McMaster battled back and took the lead 19-16. Continuing to trail by several points, coach Mirek Porosa called a time out to try to regroup his team, and despite playing great defence, the Rams dropped the set 25-23.
The fourth set saw much of the same as the Rams got out to an early lead but couldn’t hang on. A big kill by Dawson put Ryerson up 16-15 going into the technical timeout but a service ace by Danny Demyanenko ended the game and gave McMaster the 25-20 win.
Assistant coach Chris McLaughlin stated that, “It was a good competitive game, our star players stepped up and their players stepped up which made for a totally competitive game. McMaster is ranked first in the country so they’re very good and they showed us why today.”
Wojcik had 13 kills on the night and middle Marc Reardon (London, Ont.) lead his squad with 3.5 blocks, and 100% kill percentage through 10 attempts.
“They’ve only lost six sets all year and now they have seven. Its always nice when you can take one off the top team,” commented McLaughlin.
Jori Mantha finished with 13 kills to lead the Marauders while Demyanenko added nine and was in on eight blocks.
With the loss, Ryerson sits fifth in the OUA with a 9-5 record. They will return to the court next weekend when they host Western and Windsor and attempt to gain some ground in the standings.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
York 2 @ Waterloo 3
The Warrior men's volleyball team continues to find ways to win and did so again on Friday night in a thrilling 5-set victory over the visiting York Lions at the PAC. The nationally ranked Warriors flexed their muscles in the fifth set taking it 15-9 to earn their 10th win of the season.
Waterloo opened the contest with a convincing 25-17 set victory but the resilient Lions bounced back to even the game with a 25-21 second set win.
The see-saw affair continued in the third with Waterloo once again earning the edge 25-21 but York would force a fifth and deciding set after winning the fourth 25-22.
Waterloo would cap off the night winning the deciding set 15-9 to improve to 10-3 on the season. The loss drops York to 9-4.
Middle blocker Jordan Dyck (St. Catharines) was strong for the black and gold with 15 kills on just 23 attempts. The fourth year recreation and leisure student also led all players with eight blocks.
Outside hitters Zachary Doherty (Goderich) and James Evans (Rockwood) were also key parts of Waterloo's offence with 13 and 12 kills respectively.
Setter Scott Thomson (St. Marys) was lights out with 50 assists while Erich Woolley (New Dundee) had 16 digs in the victory.
For the Lions it was OUA leader in kills Ray Szeto doing his thing with 20 put away's while his teammate Nicolas Pirnat had 14 in a losing effort.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
Queen’s 3 @ Windsor 2
The Windsor Lancers men's volleyball team battled, but came up just short against the visiting Queen's Gaels on Friday evening at the St. Denis Centre, falling to the visitors in five sets (25-17, 18-25, 21-25, 25-18, 14-16).
It was the second time in a row that the Lancers lost to the Gaels in five sets, as Queen's was able to squeak out a victory in Kingston, Ont. on November 30 in the teams' final conference game before the holidays. That was the start of the men's current four-game losing streak which they will look to snap on Saturday night against RMC.
Scott Hickman picked up a team-high 14 kills and game-best 5.0 total blocks for 19 points, while Greg Simone recorded 11 kills for the Lancers, who drop to 4-9 on the year and sit tied for eighth-place in the OUA. With the win, Queen's was able to put some distance between themselves and the teams chasing them for the final playoff spot in the conference. The Gaels sit at 6-7, holding down sixth-place in the league. Mike Tomlinson grabbed a contest-high 23 kills and 26.5 points to help Queen's to their third victory in their past four contests.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
RMC 0 @ Western 3
LONDON, Ont. -- The Western Mustangs men's volleyball team hosted the Royal Military College Friday evening at Alumni Hall to kick off their weekend double-header. After three sets, the Mustangs added another win to their regular season, defeating the Paladins 3-0 with set scores of 25-15, 25-9 and 25-18.
Mustang Phil James put up a service ace early on to solidify a lead that from which the Paladins could not recover. The set continued with the Mustangs taking an eight-point lead at the technical timeout and were up by ten points by the end of the set. Veteran Garrett May added another service ace to the scoreboard and Justin Scapinello tallied seven kills. Despite their efforts, the RMC could not retaliate and lost the set 25-15.
Moving into the second set, the Mustangs kept up their momentum with an unmatched 10-point advantage. The distraction tactics used by the Paladins failed to throw off their host and Western dominated the court finishing off the set with a score of 25- 9.
The third set had the Mustangs taking off their starters and the Paladins took the lead advancing by four unanswered points. That was not enough though to slow down the Mustangs who, perhaps procrastinated a bit longer, but eventually took the lead at 17-16. The Paladins called a time out at 19-16 to regroup and returned to the set unable to make a comeback. This was by far the most competitive set of the night with a nail-biting finish for the Mustangs who took the set 25-18.
"We started off a little nervous," said Mustang head coach Jim Sage on the intense final set, "and we really didn't want to go into a fourth set, but as the set progressed they became more confident and I'm proud of how they finished."
Scapinello led the Mustangs with eight kills, one ace and three digs, while the Paladins' Thomas McMullen contributed three kills, four digs and one solo block to the match.
Source: Western Sports Info
Nipissing1 @ Guelph 3
Guelph, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphon's men's volleyball team defeated the visiting Nipissing Lakers 3-1 on Friday night. Set scores were 20-25, 25-21, 26-24 and 25-22. The win improves the Gryphon's record to 5-8 on the season.
Marc Wilson led the Gryphon's in scoring with 13 points (10 kills, 3 blocks). Patrick Strzalkowski chipped in with 12 points (9 kills, 2 aces, 1 block).
Frankie Edgecombe led the Nipissing Lakers in offense with 20 points (14 kills, 2 aces, 4 blocks).
The first set opened with plenty of back and forth scoring keeping things close. A massive smash from Guelph's Luke Woud tied things up at five and capped off three straight points for the Gryphon's. The back and forth play continued for much of the set with neither side capable of capturing and maintaining the lead or momentum. Another great play by the 6'8" Guelph monster Luke Woud, this time a block, evened up the score at 18. Guelph's Marc Wilson also chipped in with several key blocks in the set. However despite these efforts, the Lakers finally managed to pull ahead 20-18, and eventually took the set 25-20.
In the second set Guelph jumped out to an early 6-2 lead. They would maintain this edge for the greater part of the set. Nipissing started to push back, but Guelph maintained their poise. Rafael Leite made several nice plays in the set to keep Guelph's lead, including a few athletic digs to set up Guelph smashes. A massive block from Marc Wilson followed by a smart tip by Kyle Richards gave Guelph the final two points of the set to even the match up at one set apiece. Guelph took the set 25-21.
The third set was another very even affair between the Gryphon's and the Lakers. Back to back points from Marc Wilson tied the set up early, 3-3. Guelph then took the next four points, taking the lead 7-3. Nipissing battled back from the deficit, eventually taking the lead, 16-15. However Guelph did not let this slip phase them, as they re-took the lead 20-17. Up 24-21 Guelph allowed Nipissing to tie the set up at 24, but again Guelph was not scared, as they eventually took the set 26-24 off another smart play by Kyle Richards.
With a 2-1 set lead over the Lakers, Guelph was hoping to secure the match in the fourth set. Once again, back and forth scoring seemed to be the story in this set, with Guelph eventually taking a 10-7 lead. Yet another block from Marc Wilson made it 12-9 for the Gryphon's. Strong play from Kyle Richards and Luke Woud helped keep Guelph's lead safe. Back to back kills from Luke Woud and Patrick Strzalkowski gave Guelph a two-point edge, 18-16. The Lakers did make things interesting at the end, tying things up at 21. However, a Connor Cressman block gave Guelph the lead right back, which they would not surrender again. Rafael Leite finished off the Lakers with a tricky serve that could not be handled, giving Guelph the fourth and final set, 25-22.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
Saturday, January 18
Nipissing 1 @ Waterloo 3
The Waterloo men's volleyball picked up their fourth straight win in 2014 to improve to 11-3 on the season taking care of the OUA newcomers Nipissing Lakers in four sets.
The win puts Waterloo in a tie for second overall in the OUA standings while McMaster continues to dominate the conference at 13-0 dropping only six sets in the process.
Waterloo came out flying with their veterans on the court winning the opening set 25-10 but Nipissing showed their fight in the second pushing the Warriors to the brink. The black and gold did however manage to escape with the 30-28 set victory to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
Nipissing continued to show their bright future in the third set winning it 25-22 but could not handle the Waterloo vets in the fourth set as Waterloo took the match winning the set 25-16.
Waterloo's balanced attack was led by James Evans (Rockwood/Warriors) who had 10 kills and added three blocks. Fifth year outside hitter Aleks Poldma (Toronto/Warriors)had seven kills and five digs while rookie Jordan McConkey (Stratford) saw some extended court time and made the most of it with six kills.
Fifth year Scott Thomson (St. Marys) and rookie Gibson Graham (Markham) shared the setting duties and combined for 38 assists in the match. At the net Tyler Motherwell(Toronto/Warriors) stood tall with six blocks.
On the visiting side of the net Nipissing's Cameron Branch led all players with 13 kills while Frankie Edgecombe had 10.
The Warriors now turn their attention to one of their biggest contests of 2014 to date welcoming the mighty Marauders to the PAC on Friday night at 8pm. The last time the two teams met Waterloo gave the number one team in the country a scare but came up short in five sets. The contest can be seen live on Warriors TV.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
Queen’s 1 @ Western 3
LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs men's volleyball team took on the Queen's Gaels Saturday evening at Alumni Hall and came away with a 3-1 win, their third consecutive home win of 2014. With set scores of 23-25, 25-20, 25-22 and 25-17, it was clear that the Gaels came out to play.
"Games like this build character and will help us so much later on in the playoffs and in the rest of our regular season," said Mustangs head coach Jim Sage.
The Mustangs and Gaels battled hard in the first set, but neither team could take more than a two-point lead until after the technical timeout when the Gaels pulled ahead 21-16 thanks to a four-point run, including three services aces from Gael Mike Tomlinson. Queen's secured their set 25-23 win and Western went down 0-1.
Western jumped out of the gates early in the second frame, and took a seven-point advantage over the Gaels before allowing their counterparts to come back within four points. A long rally and a cross-court attack from Phil James gave the Mustangs the final point needed to take the set 25-20 and tie the game 1-1.
The action continued into the third set as Mustangs Sean McKay and Garrett May went on serving streaks of their own, helping the Mustangs to a 7-1 lead before trading points once again with the Gaels. Before the technical break, the Gaels had come within three points of the Mustangs at 16-13, then tying the set at 20. In a crucial position, not wanting to drop 1-2 in the game, James put up a solo block for the Mustangs, who secured their third set 25-22.
Heading into the fourth, Queen's put up their best offence and defence, however Western, now even more motivated to seal the deal, came out hitting hard. The Gaels though only allowed the Mustangs a three-point advantage halfway through the set and trailed 13-16. Looking relaxed and playing their own game, the Mustangs knew what they had to do, and finished the set 25-17.
May led the Mustangs on offense with 21 kills and two service aces, followed by Justin Scapinello who added 14 kills of his own, along with three service aces.
The Gaels were led by Tomlinson with 23 kills and four aces.
The Mustangs will head out next weekend, Friday, January 25 and Saturday, January 26 to Toronto to take on the Ryerson Rams and the Toronto Varsity Blues.
Source: Western Sports Info
RMC 1 @ Windsor 3
The Windsor Lancer men's volleyball team defeated the RMC Paladins in four sets (25-12, 25-22, 25-27, 25-14)) on Breast Cancer Awareness Day Saturday night at the St. Denis Centre.
Ryan Leknois led the Lancers with a team-high 11 kills, while outside hitter Greg Simone, Chad Hinchey, and Alex Vikovic each added eight kills for the men, who rebounded after a tough five set loss to the Queen's Gaels Friday night.
Windsor garnered a .138 kill percentage compared to .039 from the Paladins (0-14). RMC was led by Adam Lupton who had a game high 13 kills and 15 points.
The Lancers will travel to the provincial capital next weekend where they will take on the Toronto Varsity Blues and Ryerson Rams. They return home for their final home weekend of the regular season on February 1st and 2nd when they host the Nipissing Lakers and York Lions.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
York 3 @ Guelph 1
Guelph, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphon's men's volleyball team were defeated in a close contest by the visiting York Lions 3-1 on Saturday night. Set scores were 25-18, 24-26, 25-23 and 25- 23. The loss drops the Gryphon's record to 5-9 on the season.
Patrick Strzalkowski led the Gryphon's in scoring with 16 points (8 kills, 8 aces). Luke Woud chipped in with 13 points (10 kills, 2 aces, 1 block).
Marko Dakic led the York Lions in offense with 20 points (17 kills, 3 aces).
York took control of the first set early on, getting a quick 7-3 lead. Both sides treated the fans in attendance to a few quality rallies in the beginning part of the set, but despite that York remained in control for the majority of the first set. York started increasing their lead, going up 18-12, and eventually taking the set 25-18. Marc Wilson led Guelph with four kills, Luke Woud added another two kills of his own, and Kyle Richards chipped in with 12 assists.
In the second set York took the lead early once again, gaining a 6-2 advantage over the Gryphon's. Guelph battled back to take the lead, 7-6. The set was much closer than the first, with both teams battling for control. Another huge Luke Woud kill tied things up at 16. Strong serving from Guelph's Patrick Strzalkowski provided the type of spark the Gryphon's needed, as he had four service aces in the set. Guelph took the lead late, 23-21, but could not put York away as the Lions tied the set up at 24. A York service error followed by another Patrick Strzalkowski ace gave Guelph the set, 26-24, to even things up at one set apiece.
The third set was another close affair early with Guelph on top 6-3. York battled to take the 7-6 lead over the Gryphon's shortly thereafter. Plenty of back and forth scoring ensued from here, with Guelph re-capturing their lead 13-11. A York miscue gave Guelph the 16-12 lead, and forced the Lions into a timeout. Momentum seemed to be firmly in Guelph's favour up 18-13, but somehow York was able to string a few points together to make it a 19-19 tie. York captured the lead 21-20, but a Luke Woud smash would even things up once again. York pulled things out in the end, taking the exciting 3rd set 25-23.
York took control of the fourth set early on, going up 5-1 on the Gryphon's. Guelph took 6 of the next 8 points to tie things up at seven. Once again, neither team seemed capable of taking control of the game as things were tied up at nine and then again at 11 and 12. York then took four of the next six to go up16-14. York slowly started to slip away, extending their lead to 19-16. Guelph made things interesting late thanks to some strong serving by Jordan MacIntyre, but York would pull out the set victory 25-23, giving them the match.
The Gryphon's play again January 25 at home against the Waterloo Warriors at 4 pm.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
McMaster 3 @ Toronto 0
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-20, 25-10, 27-25) to the No. 1 McMaster Marauders on Saturday, January 18 at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
The Blues drop to 4-10 and sit in ninth place, while the Marauders remain undefeated (13-0) and sit atop the OUA standings.
Dave Merritt led the Blues with six kills, while William Colucci had four kills, three blocks and three digs in the loss.
The points went back and forth to start the first set but the Marauders pulled away to take a 10-6 lead. Toronto rallied back to even the score at 15-15 midway through the frame. The Blues kept pace with the top-ranked team, but McMaster ended the set on a 6-1 run to take it 25-20.
The Marauders got out to a 5-1 lead early in the second and went onto dominate the entire set en route to a 25-10 win. McMaster built another 8-3 lead to start the third, but the Blues mounted a huge rally and took a 16-14 lead at the technical time out. The Marauders then showed why they are the top team in the CIS, coming from behind to complete the shutout 27-25.
Jori Mantha led the Marauders with 12 kills, while Shayne Herbert added 11 in the victory.
The Varsity Blues return to action next weekend (Jan. 25-26) as they host the Windsor Lancers and Western Mustangs during U of T's annual Think Pink week. Game time on both days is 12 p.m.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Sunday, January 19
McMaster 3 @ Ryerson 1
TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams men’s volleyball team put up a gritty fight against the No. 1 ranked McMaster Marauders but fell short in a 3-1 loss at home on Sunday evening.
The first set saw back and forth play between the teams before McMaster started pulling away and lead 16-10 at the technical time out. The Marauders added a series of big hits to extend their lead, and at game point a tight triple block sealed the first set for the visitors as the Rams fell 25-19.
The second set saw an explosion of power from the Ryerson bench as they took the lead 9-8 which was largely aided by an Alex Dawson (Scarborough, Ont.) five point run. The Rams executed excellent blocking and hitting throughout the set and shut down the number one offence in the country. They found themselves leading 19-14 when McMaster called a timeout following a Robert Wojcik (Whitby Ont.) missile to the back court. They continued this pressure and handily took the second set 25-16, joining Western and Waterloo as the only teams to take a set off the Marauders.
Early in the third set back to back service aces by Jeff Ardron (Lakefield, Ont.) put Ryerson up 6-3, but they couldn’t hang on to the lead for long as McMaster battled back and took the lead 19-16. Continuing to trail by several points, coach Mirek Porosa called a time out to try to regroup his team, and despite playing great defence, the Rams dropped the set 25-23.
The fourth set saw much of the same as the Rams got out to an early lead but couldn’t hang on. A big kill by Dawson put Ryerson up 16-15 going into the technical timeout but a service ace by Danny Demyanenko ended the game and gave McMaster the 25-20 win.
Assistant coach Chris McLaughlin stated that, “It was a good competitive game, our star players stepped up and their players stepped up which made for a totally competitive game. McMaster is ranked first in the country so they’re very good and they showed us why today.”
Wojcik had 13 kills on the night and middle Marc Reardon (London, Ont.) lead his squad with 3.5 blocks, and 100% kill percentage through 10 attempts.
“They’ve only lost six sets all year and now they have seven. Its always nice when you can take one off the top team,” commented McLaughlin.
Jori Mantha finished with 13 kills to lead the Marauders while Demyanenko added nine and was in on eight blocks.
With the loss, Ryerson sits fifth in the OUA with a 9-5 record. They will return to the court next weekend when they host Western and Windsor and attempt to gain some ground in the standings.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
