MEN'S VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: Blues notch first win over Gaels since 2005
RMC 0 @ Toronto 3
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's volleyball team defeated the RMC Paladins 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-9) on Friday night (Nov. 22) at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
With the win, the Blues improve to 3-6, while the Paladins drop to 0-7 on the year.
Second-year middle Aidan Haslett (Toronto) led the Blues with eight kills, while veteran Jay Tremonti had seven kills and two blocks.
Third-year standout Kyle Fick (Scarborough) added six kills, two blocks and one ace, while Michael Denton led all players with 11 digs. Aleksa Miladinovic notched 26 assists in the victory.
RMC was led by Thomas McMullen, who recorded six kills, while both Adam Lupton and Logan Morris had five kills in the loss.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
McMaster 3 @ Nipissing 0
While they came up short in the end, the Nipissing Lakers men’s volleyball team didn’t look out of place against the OUA’s only undefeated team, and one of the country’s best, the McMaster Marauders.
The Lakers dropped a three set match, losing 25-16, 25-19 and 25-17, but at times, were the more aggressive team and they controlled much of the play.
Unfortunately, the veteran presence and experience of the Marauders came through in the end and they earned the win.
The Lakers wrapped up the first half of the season with a strong effort, but were unable to walk away with the win.
Source: Nipissing Sports Info
Queen’s 2 @ Ryerson 3
TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams men’s volleyball team needed five sets but they defeated the visiting Queen’s Gaels 3-2 (25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 17-25, 18-16) on Friday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The Rams nearly squandered a 2-0 set lead as the Gaels came back to tie the match at 2-2 and held a 13-10 advantage in the fifth and final set but the Rams were able to rally for the victory.
“We’ve had six of our nine games this season go to five sets so it’s kind of a crazy feeling but I think it’s good for us as it kind of builds character for the end of the season and playoffs,” said assistant coach Chris McLaughlin following the match.
Robert Wojcik (Whitby, Ont.) reached the 20 kill plateau for the third straight game and fifth time this season to lead the Rams offence. Third year attacker Alex Dawson (Scarborough, Ont.) added 14 kills while Marc Reardon (London, Ont.) had another strong game with eight kills.
Ryerson was forced to use all three of their setters on Friday night. Coach McLaughlin revealed that both Adam Anagnostopoulos (Waterloo, Ont.) and Brett Whitley (Brighton, Ont.) are dealing with injuries and talked about the effect of having three different setters.
“It caused a bit of inconsistency tonight – different setters, different timing, it kind of affects the hitters in a different way. Hopefully everyone will be healthy moving forward toward the second half of the season,” said McLaughlin.
The Rams looked to be in control after winning the first two sets 25-20 and 25-21 but Queen’s rallied to keep the match alive in the third set. The Gaels then forced the issue with a 25-17 fourth set victory and looked to have Ryerson on the ropes.
“It was a bit of a nail-biter…but I think we showed at the end of the day that we have some heart and that we can really just push through and win any game even if it’s not going our way,” said middle Marc Reardon after the game.
Reardon recorded the final two points of the match, lifting the Rams from a 16-16 tie to the 18-16 victory. He is on a bit of a roll after recording a career-high in kills last Saturday but is quick to credit his teammates for his performance of late.
“I’m happy with how I’m playing…it’s a team effort, to be honest. The passing got together and because of that I can play well so I have to give some props to my teammates for how they’re playing,” said Reardon.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
Saturday, November 23
Guelph 0 @ Western 3
LONDON, Ont. - The Western Mustang's men's volleyball team hosted the Guelph Gryphons at Alumni Hall today and defeated them 3-0 with set scores of 25-12, 25-18, 25-14. With the win, the Mustangs bounce back from their five-set loss to Ryerson last weekend and now have a record of 6-2 on the season.
"Everyone played well tonight," said head coach Jim Sage. "We didn't have one guy who had a rough match and the result of that is complete domination against a pretty good team."
Western dominated the match controlling each set over Guelph despite losing their starting setter to injury in the second set. And with Seth Seigfried's admirable performance setting for the remainder of the match, the Mustangs came out victorious.
Veteran # Garrett May# racked up 16 kills and two serve aces for the Mustangs, while #Doug Austrom# and first-year outside hitter Gavin Taylor added nine kills and 10 digs in equally impressive performances.
Source: Western Sports Info
Queen’s 1 @ Toronto 3
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's volleyball team notched their first win over the Queen's Gaels since 2005 in a 3-1 (26-24, 22-25, 25-20, 28-26) victory on Saturday night at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
With the win, the Blues improve to 4-6 and move into sole possession of sixth place in the OUA standings.
The Blues snapped a 17-game losing streak versus Queen's, notching their first win over the Gaels since defeating them 3-0 on Jan. 22, 2005.
Toronto veterans Jake Dysselhof and Jay Tremonti led the Blues, each notching a team-high 10 kills. Dysselhoff added 11 digs and two aces, while Tremonti had two blocks on the night.
Rookie Will Colucci recorded eight kills, while both Dave Merritt and Kyle Fick had seven kills.
Aleksa Miladinovic added 36 assists and a game-high 19 digs in the victory.
Tyler Scheerhoorn led the Gaels and all players with 17 kills and eight digs, while Aaron Nusbaum added 12 digs in the loss.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
RMC 1 @ Ryerson 3
TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams men’s volleyball team made it three wins in a row on Saturday night with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-17, 22-25, 25-15) victory over the RMC Paladins at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Fourth year hitter George Sakvarelidze (Toronto) had a game-high 13 kills in the victory while Brandon Jordan (London, Ont.) added ten to lead the Rams to the win.
Thomas McMullen (Ottawa, Ont.) had a team-high six kills and was in on four blocks in RMC’s losing effort.
The Rams were in control for the majority of the match and outhit the Paladins for 56 kills compared to RMC’s 24.
The only blip in the Rams game came in the third set which they dropped, forcing them to play a fourth set.
“Discipline plays a big role when playing a team like RMC. There’s a couple other teams like that in the league (that) just dig a lot of balls, pass pretty well and if you’re not disciplined as a team and you’re not putting the ball away when you get a chance it just goes to show they can take you to four and you can lose a set,” said assistant coach Luka Milosevic following the game.
After going up two sets to none the Rams started to showcase the depth of their bench and Sakvarelidze made the most of his playing time.
“I just thought we had a solid team game. I think we did what we needed to do – executed well (and) passed well. We kind of went down in the third set but we came back strong in the fourth and pulled through,” said Sakvarelidze.
The Rams (7-3) are riding a three game winning streak and have pulled into a four-way tie for first place in the OUA standings, giving the squad an extra dose of confidence going into next weekend’s final game of the fall schedule.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
Sunday, November 24
McMaster 3 @ York 0
The No. 1 nationally-ranked McMaster Marauders men's volleyball team defeated the York University Lions in straight sets on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 23) at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
The Lions found their groove as the match went on and made a game of it in the third, leading 16-13 at the technical timeout and pushing the Marauders down the stretch. But McMaster's experience came through at the end, as the top-ranked squad took the third set 27-25 to win the match.
The Marauders were more dominant in the first two sets, winning 25-18 and 25-23.
The win extended McMaster's season-opening winning streak to eight, and the Marauders remain the only team in the OUA with an undefeated mark. The loss dropped the Lions to 7-3 on the year, and they are tied for second in the OUA standings with 14 points.
York outside hitter Ray Szeto (Sutton, Ont.) continued his tremendous season with a game-high 15 points, on 12 kills, two service aces and one block. He continues to be the OUA leader in scoring with 4.95 points per set.
Also coming up big for the Lions was Alexander Duncan-Thibault (Scarborough, Ont.) with 10 points on seven kills, two blocks and one service ace, while Marko Dakic (Mississauga, Ont.) finished with 9.5 points, including nine kills, as well as a team-high seven digs.
McMaster's offence featured a balanced attack that saw three different players reach double digits in scoring. Jayson McCarthy (Oshawa, Ont.) led all Marauders with 13.5 points on 12 kills, one service ace and a block assist.
Reigning OUA rookie of the year Danny Demyanenko (Toronto) finished with 12.5 points on 10 kills, 1.5 blocks and one service ace, and Jori Mantha (Vanier, Ont.) had 11.5 points on nine kills and 2.5 blocks, and also added a game-high nine digs.
Source: York Sports Info
Guelph 3 @ Windsor 2
WINDSOR, Ont. - The Lancer men's volleyball team fell 3-2 to the visiting Guelph Gryphons on Sunday afternoon at the St. Denis Centre. Set scorers were (25-20, 25-19, 17-25, 23-25, 15-17).
Heading into their final weekend of competition, the Lancers are now 3-5 on the season and will face the RMC Paladins (0-8) and Queen's Gaels (3-5) in Kingston next weekend.
Working at a 24% and 25% percentage in the first two sets, the Lancers defeated the Gryphons to take a 2-0 lead. The Gryphons seemed to shake off their travel legs in the third, more than doubling their previous set's efficiency and defeated Windsor to make it a one set game.
The final two sets were tight battles, as the two teams traded points and came up with big plays to keep the game close. In both sets, the Gryphons managed to get up on top of the Lancers and take the win.
Windsor was led by Chad Hinchey with 18.5 points and 15 kills, while Blase Wasser had 38 set assists and 12 digs, while Shawn Reaume contributed 18 digs.
For the Gryphons, Timothy Warnholtz had 30 points and 10 digs.
Source: Windsor Sports Info