January 23, 2006
GAELS GRAB TWO WINS, WHILE RAMS OUTLAST MAC IN HEAVYWEIGHT BATTLE
The Queen's Golden Gaels are knocking on the Ryerson Rams' door. Queen's won twice this week to keep a hold of second place in the OUA, two points behind the Rams. Fourth-year Newcastle, On native Ryan McCracken had 18 kills, while Luke Litchy added 13 more as the Gaels went on the road and beat the Laurier Golden Hawks 3-2 in a tight five-set match. Queen's went down 2-1 in sets before rallying to win the fourth 25-21 and the fifth 15-13. Jean-Paul Wilkerd led the Hawks with 18 kills and 20 points. Queen's picked up another two points in the standings with a 3-1 victory over the winless Waterloo Warriors. Devon Miller had 23 assists for the 12-2 Gaels, while Jeff Demeza paced the squad with 12 kills. Tyler Vivian led the Warriors with 14 kills.
In the marquee match-up of the week, Ryerson battled its way to a satisfying 3-2 win over the third-place McMaster Marauders. The Rams went down 2-1 at home but scratched out a 27-25 in the fourth set before taking the fifth by a score of 15-9. Ryan Vandenburg led the way with 24 kills and 26 points, while Daniel Smedley had 26 kills for Mac. Ryerson won for the 13th time in 15 league matches the next day, blanking the Guelph Gryphons 3-0. Vandenburg had another 13 kills and got some help up front as Matt Fugard and Oleh Kovalchuk added 11 and 10 kills respectively. Jamie Giddinhs had team-highs of 20 assists and five digs for the Gryphons. Guelph was coming off of a 3-1 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday. Fourth-year middle Matt Peters led Guelph with 12 kills, while Giddings had 35 assists. Toronto's kills leader Brendan Peel had 16 points, all kills.
The York Lions have enjoyed a terrific start to the New Year and the solid play from last year's OUA champs continued with two wins on the week, including a 3-2 win over Laurier Wednesday and a solid 3-1 win over the fourth-place Western Mustangs Saturday. While Wilkerd was once again the dominating force for Laurier, recording 21 of his 69 kills on the week, York had an offensive answer as Sholan Trivedi led the Lions with 20 kills. Paul Podstawka had 46 assists for York, while Jordan Matthews showed some defensive grit, tallying 15 digs. Trivedi had 14 more kills in the Western match, while Matthews added another 10. The teams exchanged the first two sets before York took control, winning the third 25-17 and then taking the fourth 25-21. Alexander Jerome had 16 kills for the Mustangs, while Andrew Hinchey registered 38 assists.
McMaster bounced back from the Ryerson defeat, just their fourth of the year, with a 3-2 road win over Toronto. Smedley had another 18 kills, while third-year London native Steve Murray added 15. Ryan Hudson led the Marauders with 41 assists. Peel had a match-high 24 kills, 22 coming via kills.
In other OUA action, Western defeated the Windsor Lancers 3-1 Wednesday, while Laurier defeated the RMC Paladins 3-2 Saturday. Wilkerd had his best kill total of the week with 28 for Laurier, while Mathieu Lorrain had 21 for RMC.
(Photo: Ryerson's Ryan \"Snake\" Vandenburg shows the form that has him on top of the CIS service aces category. Photo by Matt Smolka.)
In the marquee match-up of the week, Ryerson battled its way to a satisfying 3-2 win over the third-place McMaster Marauders. The Rams went down 2-1 at home but scratched out a 27-25 in the fourth set before taking the fifth by a score of 15-9. Ryan Vandenburg led the way with 24 kills and 26 points, while Daniel Smedley had 26 kills for Mac. Ryerson won for the 13th time in 15 league matches the next day, blanking the Guelph Gryphons 3-0. Vandenburg had another 13 kills and got some help up front as Matt Fugard and Oleh Kovalchuk added 11 and 10 kills respectively. Jamie Giddinhs had team-highs of 20 assists and five digs for the Gryphons. Guelph was coming off of a 3-1 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday. Fourth-year middle Matt Peters led Guelph with 12 kills, while Giddings had 35 assists. Toronto's kills leader Brendan Peel had 16 points, all kills.
The York Lions have enjoyed a terrific start to the New Year and the solid play from last year's OUA champs continued with two wins on the week, including a 3-2 win over Laurier Wednesday and a solid 3-1 win over the fourth-place Western Mustangs Saturday. While Wilkerd was once again the dominating force for Laurier, recording 21 of his 69 kills on the week, York had an offensive answer as Sholan Trivedi led the Lions with 20 kills. Paul Podstawka had 46 assists for York, while Jordan Matthews showed some defensive grit, tallying 15 digs. Trivedi had 14 more kills in the Western match, while Matthews added another 10. The teams exchanged the first two sets before York took control, winning the third 25-17 and then taking the fourth 25-21. Alexander Jerome had 16 kills for the Mustangs, while Andrew Hinchey registered 38 assists.
McMaster bounced back from the Ryerson defeat, just their fourth of the year, with a 3-2 road win over Toronto. Smedley had another 18 kills, while third-year London native Steve Murray added 15. Ryan Hudson led the Marauders with 41 assists. Peel had a match-high 24 kills, 22 coming via kills.
In other OUA action, Western defeated the Windsor Lancers 3-1 Wednesday, while Laurier defeated the RMC Paladins 3-2 Saturday. Wilkerd had his best kill total of the week with 28 for Laurier, while Mathieu Lorrain had 21 for RMC.
(Photo: Ryerson's Ryan \"Snake\" Vandenburg shows the form that has him on top of the CIS service aces category. Photo by Matt Smolka.)
