AROUND OUA: Hoey puts down 10 kills to lead Gaels past RMC 3-0

SCOREBOARD

RMC 0 @ Queen's 3

Western 3 @ Windsor 0

Trent 0 @ York 3

Hoey puts down 10 kills to lead Gaels past RMC 3-0

KINGSTON, Ont. (January 15, 2017) - The Queen's Gaels (6-4) defeated RMC Paladins (2-8) in their first game of 2017. The final set scores of the games were 25-15, 25-20 and 25-14 in favour of Queen's. 

GAME FLOW
The game started with a battle for points, the scores being tied at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 6-6, and 8-8. At the ninth point the Gaels began to gain momentum and ran the score up 12-8 forcing an RMC timeout. The Paladins picked up a point right after but the Gaels had built up enough of a lead that they held on for the set. Some great decision making by the Gaels Markus Trence (Orangeville, Ont.) on the outside put the Gaels in control winning 25-15.

The second set was similar to the first being another one point game, which kept the score within a point and suspense in the ARC. With the score tied at 15-15 RMC got the next point as both teams headed to the technical timeout. The timeout didn't swing momentum either way as the score stayed tied through to 20-20. A big attack by Zac Hutcheson (Kingston, Ont.) gave the Gaels the lead again at 21-20, then Austin Payne (Kingston, Ont.) added another huge attack to put Queen's ahead by two forcing Paladin's called a timeout.  The timeout does not take away from the Gaels as they take a three point lead with a score of 23-20 and immediately the Paladin's called another timeout.  Again, it is of no help when the Gaels earn another point, then a service ace by Hutcheson decides the set in favour of Queen's 25-20. 

A service ace by RMC started the third set, and the Paladins built up a 5-1 lead looking to make a match of it. Out of a timeout early in the set the Gaels were able to put points together and found themselves ahead of RMC at the technical timeout up 16-12.  Queen's fought hard and came out on top winning the third and final set with a score of 25-14 for the Gaels, clinching the match 3-0. 

A special mention in todays game goes to Jamie Wright (Kingston, Ont.) who had a phenomenal day setting up his teammates for 34 assists.

BY THE NUMBERS 
6- The number of days until the Gaels rematch RMC 
4- The Gaels currently sit 4th in the OUA East Division

FINAL SAY
"I really think we gelled today and communicated well as a team. We are on a really good start here for 2017 we just need to keep that moving forward to make playoffs." -Jonathan Reid (Player)

UP NEXT
The Gaels (6-4) will be staying in Kingston travelling to RMC where they will rematch the Paladin's. The game is on January 21st at 3pm.

Source: Queen's Gaels

Mustangs take down Lancers in three sets

WINDSOR, Ont. – Fifteen points from Bryn Ramsay helped the Western Mustangs get the second half of their schedule off to a good start with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-23) win over the Windsor Lancers on Sunday afternoon at the St. Denis Centre.
 
The win, Western's third straight sets victory of the season, moves the Mustangs to 4-3 and puts them into a tie for third place in the OUA West alongside the Waterloo Warriors. Windsor falls to 0-6 with the loss, keeping them in sixth in the West standings.
 
Ramsay's 15 points was just a half point off of his season high of 15.5, and came from 13 kills and two aces. Mike Choja and Evan Cranshaw were next up on the scoresheet, with both recording season-highs in points with 12.5 and 10 respectively.
 
Second-year left side John Moate led the Lancers with 12 points in the loss, including 10 kills and two blocks.
 
After falling behind 5-2 to start the set, the Mustangs came out firing after that, eventually racking up a .333 hitting percentage compared to a -.074 mark from the Lancers. First taking the lead at 7-6, the Mustangs wouldn't give it back for the rest of the frame, leading 16-14 at the technical timeout before going on a 9-2 run to end the set with a 25-16 win.
 
The second set proved to be a more closely contested affair, with the two teams trading points to set the scoreboard at 10-10 before Western began to pull away, going on a 6-2 run to take a 16-12 lead at the technical timeout.
 
Following the timeout the Mustangs continued to extend their lead, as kills from Choja and Cranshaw, followed by back-to-back attack errors from the Lancers forced Windsor into a timeout at 20-14. Despite giving up three points off of errors of their own, the Mustangs closed out the set with a 25-20 win.
 
The third set proved to be the closest of the day with neither team able to build up a sizeable advantage. After leading 16-15 at the technical, Western built up the largest lead of the set at 18-15, before the Lancers pulled even on a kill from Oscar Scholin and a pair of attack errors by the Mustangs.
 
Tied again at 19-19, that was as close as things would get, with the Mustangs being the first to 25 thanks to two kills from Ramsay, one from Cranshaw, and three points from Lancers' errors to take the set 25-23 and the match.
 
Western will now get set for a pair of road contests next weekend, as the team heads to Hamilton on Saturday, January 21, to take on McMaster, before heading to St. Catharines on Sunday to face the Brock Badgers. While the Mustangs and Marauders have already squared off once this season, with McMaster taking a four set win back in November, Sunday's matchup with Brock will be the first time Western has met the Badgers in regular season play since they returned to OUA competition this season after a 15-year hiatus. 

Source: Western Mustangs

Lions defeat Excalibur in straight sets

The York University Lions men's volleyball team knocked off the Trent Excalibur on Sunday afternoon in straight sets at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
 
The sweeping victory gave the Lions their sixth win of the season and highlighted many great individual performances from Aleksander Grzegorczyk (Binbrook, Ont.), Spencer Dakin Kuiper (Lethbridge, Alta.) and Logan Mend (Naramata, B.C.).
 
The Lions had a quick start in the game and jumped up on the Excalibur to gain a significant lead that they would not relinquish. With Trent's six errors in the first set, the Lions road became much easier. Mend set seven of York's 10 kills in the first set and recorded an impressive 18 assists in the game. After a quick run to 25 the Lions took the set by a score of 25-12.
 
The remaining sets would not be as easy for the Lions as the Excalibur would elevate their play in hopes to record their first victory of the season. A slightly less disciplined half by the Lions left the door open for Trent to remain close. Alex Duncan Thibault (Scarborough, Ont.) recorded three kills in the set to help edge out the Excalibur by a score of 25-23.
 
In the final set the Lions would be tested. Every time that the Lions were about to end the game, the Excalibur would find a way to push the score higher and higher. The Lions leaned on Grzegorczyk and his four kills in the set to end the game. Grzegorczyk would end the game with eight recorded kills and led the Lions with 10 points.
 
With the score sitting at 31-30, Trent committed an attack error, which was blocked by York for the game-winning point.
 
With a three set sweep, the Lions chalked up their sixth win of the season and now sit with a 6-3 record and the third overall spot in the OUA East standings. After a week off, their next game will take place on Friday, Jan. 27 against the Waterloo Warriors.

Source: York Lions