AROUND OUA: Gaels top Lakers in five set thriller
It wouldn't be a stretch – not even a little bit – to say the Nipissing Lakers men's volleyball team could be 4-1 through their first five matches of the OUA season.
SCOREBOARD
Gaels top Lakers in five set thriller
It wouldn't be a stretch – not even a little bit – to say the Nipissing Lakers men's volleyball team could be 4-1 through their first five matches of the OUA season.
Aside from a loss at McMaster, the Lakers have played some great volleyball, winning twice and falling twice in five set thrillers.
Even in the loss to McMaster, the country's top team, Nipissing competed hard.
Friday night, the Lakers and Queens Gaels went toe-to-toe in a heavyweight battle, with the Gaels escaping North Bay with a 3-2 win, including an 18-16 fifth set triumph.
The teams literally went shot for shot with Nipissing winning 25-23 to kick the match off.
Queens won the second and third – 25-15 and 25-19 – before the Lakers responded with a gutsy win to extend the match.
With the teams tied late in the fourth set, Nipissing got some great defence and big blocks as they pulled away and came up with the win to send the match to a fifth and deciding set.
While the first four sets were extremely well played, the fifth set took the match to another level as the teams had the crowd on their feet.
Nipissing grabbed an early lead, Queens fought back to grab an 11-9 lead.
After some great rallies, big swings and huge digs, the score was 14-13 Nipissing.
The Lakers had match points, but couldn't put the Gaels away and found themselves still in a good spot, but the Gaels turned it up late, grabbed a 17-16 lead before putting the game and match away with an 18-16 win.
Cam Branch had a monster game, picking up 23 kills, while Lyndon Sonego added 14 and Warren Taylor chipped in with nine.
While they don't need to change the way they're playing, the Lakers will look to get back on track and back in the win column Saturday when they host the RMC Paladins.
Game time is set for 8 p.m. at the RJS Athletic Centre.
Source: Nipissing Lakers
Mustangs take down Windsor in three sets
WINDSOR, Ont. – Western took an early lead in the first set and hardly slowed their momentum for the rest of the night, picking up a three set win (25-15, 25-23, 27-25) over the Windsor Lancers at the St. Denis Centre on Friday night.
With the win, the Mustang record improves to 3-1, while the Lancers remain winless at 0-4.
Zeid Hamadeh topped both sides of the scoresheet and recorded new single game highs with 14.5 points and 12 kills. Close behind was Mike Choja, who put up 13 points for the Mustangs.
Windsor was led by fifth year Blase Wasser, who recorded 13 points across the three sets.
The Mustangs wasted no time in the first set, quickly picking up an impressive 7-2 lead over the Lancers.Utilizing Choja and Chris Newcombe's height advantages to send the ball overtop of the Windsor blockers, Western continued to dominate at the net while cutting off Lancer attacks. The Mustangs continued to roll, doubling the Lancer score at 16-8.
Back on the floor after the technical, Windsor remained at the mercy of the Mustangs. Despite cutting down on errors, the Lancers were unable to overcome the substantial lead held by Western. Quickly running through the final points of the set, the Mustangs closed out the set at 25-15.
Getting up early in the second set, the Lancers held tight to their lead. Unforced errors were keeping the Mustangs down, as they were behind 6-3 early. Slowly climbing back up the scoreboard with Gavin Taylor helming the effort at the net and Seth Siegfried keeping Western competitive in the back court, the Mustangs matched Windsor's score at 8-8. Trading points and matching errors, the score was still tied at 12-12.
Picking up a slight edge at 13-15, Windsor held onto to the lead heading into the technical timeout at 14-16.
Returning to the floor Western immediately regained the serve following a Lancer error, and managed to scrape another few points off Windsor while only giving up one of their own to bring the score to 17-17. Following consecutive hall handling errors, the Lancers used their first time-out of the set at 19-18 to address the mistakes that were preventing an overtake of the purple and white score.
Using their second timeout just a few points later, Windsor again returned to the floor hoping to put the Mustang win on hold. But despite losing the serve at 24-23 following an infraction, the Mustangs were able to close out the set at 25-23 following a kill from Hamadeh.
Continually improving their game throughout the first and second set and picking up on Western's patterns, the Lancers best challenged the Mustangs in the third. Responsible for the first four Mustang points, Newcombe's play at the net was what kept Western above the Lancer score at 3-4. However, cycling into the backcourt and no longer able to cut off Windsor's attacks, the purple and white score began to slip as they fell behind at 6-9.
Outscoring their opponents with targeted attacks, the Mustangs evened the score at 10-10 to force the Lancers into withdrawing into a time-out. Back on the floor with an adjusted game plan that saw a stronger focus on covering attacks, the Lancers took six of the seven points scored after the timeout to head into the technical at 11-16. Riding their momentum as well as pulling energy from an enthusiastic crowd, Windsor remained four points ahead at 14-18.
Choja took back control of the game for the Mustangs with a kill that opened up an opportunity for a point run, allowing the Mustangs to close the point difference to one at 18-19. Briefly taking the lead, and falling back into a tie at 25-25 just as quickly, the Mustangs and Lancers battled for every point. Taking a one-point advantage following a kill from Taylor, an attack error from Windsor allowed Western to take the third set 27-25 – and with it, the match.
The Mustangs return to the floor in the hopes of capturing a third consecutive win on Saturday, November 14 at Alumni Hall. The first set is expected to begin at 7 p.m., with live streaming available for fans at OUA.tv.
Source: Western Mustangs
Top seeded Marauders overpower Warriors
The No. 1 team in the country, McMaster Marauders flexed their muscles on Friday night at the PAC, downing the Warriors in straight sets. Set scores were 25-16, 25-22, 25-15.
McMaster showed their dominance early and often with different looks that kept the Warriors guessing. Overall McMaster finished the match with 43 kills compared to Waterloo's 30. McMaster was especially efficient in the third and final set putting away 16 kills on just 31 attempts.
Leading the Marauder attack was Stephen Marr who totalled 14 points in the contest on his 13 kills and one service ace. Marr was also strong defensively with seven digs. Jayson McCarthy was also a key member of the McMaster attack with 10 kills.
Waterloo's attack came primarily from outside hitter Braden Cok (Waterloo) who finished with a game high 15 kills. The Warriors could not get the middle attack going as Trevor Coathup (Ottawa) and Jordan McConkey (Stratford) could only team up for four kills. Gibson Graham (Markham) collected 26 assists in the match while Erich Woolley (New Dundee) was the most active player between the two teams with 13 digs.
Waterloo will be back on the court tomorrow night at 8pm as they battle the Guelph Gryphons at the PAC.
Source: Waterloo Warriors
Lions get back into the win column with sweep of Paladins
The York University Lions men's volleyball squad swept the RMC Paladins in straight sets on Friday night (Nov. 6) at the Tait McKenzie Centre to get back into the win column.
The Lions were on the hunt as they dominated Friday's match, scoring in bunches consistently throughout the match. They won the first set 25-13, and the second set was much of the same story as they took it 25-18.
The third set the Paladins brought their best and kept it close for the most part, but the Lions proved to be too much as they marched back and won 25-20.
In the second frame Tyler Covach (Kitchener, Ont.) rose up and destroyed a spike that sparked the Lions, and he ended the night with 10 kills.
Nicolas Pirnat (Ottawa) had a game-high eleven kills, and at times during the match the opposition had no answer to Pirnat's spikes. Logan Mend (Naramata, B.C.) led both sides in assists as he finished with a total of 38.
The Lions' season record stands at 3-2 and they are back on the hardwood Saturday (Nov. 7) at home when they take on the Queen's Gaels at 8pm.
Source: York Lions
