AROUND OUA: Warriors use dominant attack to sweep aside Badgers
The Warriors men's volleyball team got off to a great start in 2017 with a straight sets victory over the Brock Badgers on Saturday afternoon at the PAC.
SCOREBOARD
Brock 0 @ Waterloo 3
McMaster 3 @ Guelph 1
Ryerson 3 @ York 2
Trent 0 @ Nipissing 3
Warriors use dominant attack to sweep aside Badgers
The Warriors men's volleyball team got off to a great start in 2017 with a straight sets victory over the Brock Badgers on Saturday afternoon at the PAC.
After a tight opening set where Waterloo took it by a score of 25-19, the Warriors cruised past the Badgers 25-16, 25-18 in the final two sets to earn their fourth win of the season. Waterloo moved to .500 on the season with a 4-4 record while Brock fell to 2-4.
Waterloo was dominant on the attack with 46 kills compared to just 24 for the Badgers. The Warriors were also as impressive defensively with 26 team digs and 13 total blocks. Three different Warriors finished with 10.5 points as Kevin LeBreux (Cumberland), Matthew Mawdsley (London) and Jordan McConkey (Stratford) put together solid efforts in the win. LeBreux and McConkey each had 10 kills while Mawdsley put away eight. Mawdlsey also led the way at the net with four blocks.
Defensively Aidan Simone (London) was stellar with a game high seven digs. He also put away seven kills including match point after an over bump from the Badgers.
Setting up the Warriors was Nikola Dimitrijevic (Mississauga) who had an impressive 32 assists in the match.
For the Badgers it was Timmy Spisar leading all players with 11.5 points on nine kills and three blocks.
The Warriors will be off next weekend before returning to action on Friday, January 27 against York at the PAC.
Source: Waterloo Warriors
Koppers, McCarthy lead Mac past Guelph in four
It was a battle of the two top teams in the OUA West, and two teams both ranked in the U Sports top 10, when the Marauders met the Gryphons in Guelph Saturday.
Despite losing just their second set of the conference season, the no. 2-ranked Mac weathered a test from the no. 10-ranked hosts to come away with a 3-1 win (25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 25-18).
Improving to 7-0 on the season, the Marauders further solidified their hold on the top spot in the OUA West with the win. The Gryphons, meanwhile, suffered their second consecutive loss since resuming OUA play a week earlier.
The veteran pair of Brandon Koppers and Jayson McCarthy led Mac in the win, with totals of 18.5 and 18 points respectively.
Koppers had a match-high 17 kills on 32 attempts (.406), while adding an ace and a block assist, while McCarthy went 15 of 27 (.370) with an ace and two block assists.
Guelph was coming off of a 3-1 loss to the Brock Badgers a week ago, while McMaster kept themselves busy over the midseason break with some competition from south of the border, which was highlighted by a 3-0 sweep of last year's NCAA Division I champion, the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Gryphons put up a tough battle in the opening set and were close on the heels of the Marauders as Mac went into the first technical timeout with a 16-14 lead. Keeping their noses narrowly out front, Mac sealed the set when Guelph's Josh Green missed from the service line for 25-22.
In the second set, McMaster would continue their strong offensive play, as they would have a match high of 16 kills in the set. The Gryphons, however, continued to keep pace with the soaring Marauders, but eventually dropped the second set 25-21.
Guelph seized momentum as they made a surge in the third set of the closely-matched game. Thanks in part to strong efforts from stars Kendrick Kerr and Joshua Green, the tenth-ranked squad was able to muster together a 25-22 set win to push the game to a fourth.
That is where the Gryphons hopes for a resurgence would end, though, as the Marauders leaned on the efficiency of hitters like Koppers and McCarthy in committing just two errors over the course of the set and coasting to a 25-18 victory.
McMaster returns to action at home on Friday, January 21, as they play host to the Western Mustangs (3-3).
Source: McMaster Marauders
Rams defeat Lions for fourth straight win
TORONTO – Lucas Coleman and Brendan Kewin combined for 38 kills to lift the Ryerson Rams men's volleyball team to a huge five set victory (25-27, 25-20, 25-19, 24-26, 16-14) over the York Lions at the Tait McKenzie Centre Saturday afternoon.
The win tasted of sweet revenge for the Rams after dropping a 3-0 decision to the Lions earlier this season. From the first touch, the Rams showcased a level of execution that was destined for victory and by doing so, accomplished their 4th straight win.
The first set saw the Rams take a convincing 16-9 lead at the first technical timeout. The ball was shared throughout the front line with the focal point receivers being Coleman and Kewin. Setter Adam Anagnostopoulos even chimed in with a kill of his own on a play set up by Taylor Jordan.
The Lions rebounded from their sloppy start and returned with a stellar run of their own in the first set. A string of three straight York kills and a service error by the Rams ignited the Lions and got them to within two at 17-15.
The Rams began to feel the pressure from the surging Lions after star hitter, Alex Duncan-Thibault, began to heat up for kills. The Rams and Lions traded points in the final moments of the set, but back-to-back attack errors by the Rams gifted the Lions an opening 25-27 first set victory.
The second set proved to be all Rams as Coleman took complete control of the game with seven kills through the set. The Rams forced the Lions to press on a number of opportunities in hopes of making another comeback, but errors proved to be the difference as the Rams stormed back with a 25-20 second set victory.
After another lopsided 25-19 win by the Rams in the third set, the Lions found themselves down 2-1 heading into the fourth. With their backs against the wall, the Lions came up huge edging out the Rams in a 24-26 thriller.
Duncan-Thibault and Spencer Kingzett combined for nine kills in the fourth set and were essentially unstoppable despite the Rams best efforts. Duncan-Thibault and Kingzett traded kills in the final five points to lead the Lions back for a 24-26 fourth set victory.
The Rams and Lions battled back and fourth to the final point until a Kewin kill and a Lions' attack error finally sealed the deal as the Rams defeated the Lions in a thrilling fifth and final set for a fourth straight victory.
The five-set affair was the third time the Rams needed a full five sets to win in their past five games. The win improved the Rams to 7-3 on the year and gives them a four-point lead over the Nipissing Lakers for first in the East.
The Rams are scheduled to face the Lakers next Saturday in what will be an entertaining affair. The game is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. at the Robert J Surtees Student Athletics Centre in North Bay.
Source: Ryerson Rams
Lakers keep rolling after win over Trent
The impressive run for the Nipissing Lakers men's volleyball continued Saturday night at home.
The Lakers picked up their sixth win in seven matches, and third straight, after sweeping aside the Trent Excalibur 3-0.
While it wasn't as smooth as they would have liked, with Trent fighting hard and battling for every point, the Lakers managed to come away with the victory, by scores of 25-21, 25-16 and 25-13 to close the match out.
Entering the match, the teams were headed in opposite directions, but Nipissing had to earn it Saturday night.
In the first, the Lakers grabbed an early lead, but were unable to put Trent away, as they fought back and the game was close right until Warren Taylor ended it with a kill.
There was no more than a four point lead throughout the whole set, but Nipissing prevailed.
In the second, it was a similar story, but the Lakers took advantage of a few errors and used some big kills to come away with the win, as they ran away with things stretching a 16-13 lead into a 25-16 win.
In the third set, which turned out to be the final one of the match, they jumped out to an 11-2 advantage, built that up to 18-12 and finished on a 7-1 run to pick up the victory and the sweep.
The Lakers are now 6-1, have won three straight and continue to hold down the second best winning percentage in the OUA.
Jack Peckham led the Lakers offence with seven kills, Lyndon Sonego had six, while Steve Wood and Dan Miller each had five in the win.
Nipissing will remain at home for a pair of matches next weekend, versus Toronto and Ryerson.
Source: Nipissing Lakers
