Toronto captures OUA bronze on home court

TORONTO, Ont. - The No. 1 University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team earned their sixth consecutive provincial medal after defeating Ryerson 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23) in the bronze-medal match on home court Saturday night (Mar. 11) at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

With the win, Toronto claims their fourth OUA bronze medal since 2011-12 alongside back-to-back provincial banners from the previous two seasons.

Despite the loss, Ryerson will return to action as hosts of the 2017 U SPORTS championship next weekend (Mar. 17-19) at Mattamy Athletic Centre alongside both the OUA gold and silver medalists from tonights final between Western and McMaster.

U of T completed their second consecutive 19-0 regular season in 2016-17, finishing atop the OUA East division. Toronto earned their spot, and hosting right, to the OUA Final Four after a 3-0 quarter-final win over Waterloo last weekend before dropping an exciting 3-2 semifinal contest with the No. 9 Western Mustangs last night, their first loss since February 7, 2015.

Varsity Blues player of the match and OUA East player of the year Alina Dormann led all players on the evening with a game-high 29 points from 28 kills and one service ace.

Dormann was assisted by OUA East first team all-star Madelyn Mandryk who notched a game-high 45 assists, while libero Asli Ersozoglu registered a team-high 17 digs defensively.

For the Rams, OUA first team all-star Theanna Vernon dominated at the net scoring 22 points from 13 kills, six blocks, and three service aces.

Outside hitters Lauren Veltman and Veronica Livingston were close behind with 15.5 and 14 points respectively.

OUA East first team all-star libero Julie Longman led all players defensively with a game-high 28 digs, while setter Kate McIlmoyle recorded 29 assists.

Toronto opened the evening on fire as middle Anna Licht delivered two strong blocks before finding the open court for a kill to push U of T ahead of Ryerson early. After the technical timeout it was Dormann making her presence felt as she helped lead the Blues to a convincing 25-19 first set win.

The second set featured back-and-forth action as the Rams began to find their rythym capitalizing on the inside presence of Rams player of the match Theanna Vernon. The dominant inside force helped keep the set close, but Toronto was still too much taking it 25-23.

The momentum remained with the Rams into the third though as Vernon teamed up with outside hitter Veronica Livingston to jump ahead of the Blues putting them into a hole they could not climb out of, forcing a fourth set with a 25-19 third set win.

Toronto would not be denied a medal on home court however as setter Madelyn Mandryk delivered set after set to her favourite target in Dormann. Despite a late surge from the Rams, U of T secured the bronze medal with a 25-23 fourth set win.

STAT LEADERS
 
Toronto
Kills: Alina Dormann (28), Anna Licht (9)
Points: Alina Dormann (29), Anna Licht (12)
Blocks: Anna Licht (2), Emma Armstrong (2)
Digs: Asli Ersozoglu (17)
Assists: Madelyn Mandryk (45)
Service aces: Veronica Derylo (3)
 
Player of the match: Alina Dormann
 
Ryerson
Kills: Theanna Vernon (13), Veronica Livingston (13)
Points: Theanna Vernon (22), Lauren Veltman (15.5)
Blocks: Theanna Vernon (6), Cailin Wark (2.5)
Digs: Julie Longman (28)
Assists: Kate McIlmoyle (29)
Service aces: Theanna Vernon (3), Lauren Veltman (3)
 
Player of the match: Theanna Vernon
 
OUA FINAL FOUR SCHEDULE & RESULTS
 
Friday, March 10
6:00pm Western 3 Toronto 2
8:00pm McMaster 3 Ryerson 0
 
Saturday, March 11
6:00pm Bronze medal match: Toronto 3 Ryerson 1
8:00pm Gold medal match: Western vs McMaster