February 13, 2006
MAC AND WESTERN HOST QUARTERS, WHILE BIG GUNS ENJOY BYE
The Ryerson Rams and Queen's Golden Gaels have reaped the rewards of their hard work. The No. 8 Rams and the Gaels each took their last two matches of the regular season to finish one-two in the OUA standings, which earned both of the volleyball powerhouses a bye in the opening round of the upcoming playoffs. Erik Janssen had eight kills and setter Greg Marszalek tallied 19 assists as the Rams (18-2) beat the winless Waterloo Warriors 3-0 Friday. Kostya Kovalenko paced the Warriors with 11 kills. Ryerson was in complete control of the three sets, winning by scores of 25-16, 25-19 and 25-20. Ryan Vandenburg returned to the Rams lineup the following night and pounded out a match-high 20 kills in a 3-1 win over the Laurier Golden Hawks. Janssen led all players with 10 digs. Laurier's front-line tandem of Jean-Paul Wilkerd and Peter Wigger combined for 23 kills. The Hawks made it interesting by taking the third set 25-23 but Ryerson closed it out in the fourth 25-20.
Queen's (16-4) didn't concede a set all week as they posted back-to-back 3-0 wins over the RMC Paladins and the York Lions. Against RMC Wednesday, Jeff Demeza led the Gaels with 14 kills, while Devon Miller had 17 assists in the two games he played. Mohamed Slaibeh paced all players with 12 digs. Luke Litchy and Daniel McCrae had 10 kills each in the Gaels' convincing win over the defending OUA champs from York. On Saturday, Miller had 35 assists in the match and Steve Willis had a team-high 12 digs. York's Rob Dyba led all players with 14 digs.
The McMaster Marauders finished third in the OUA after posting two wins this week and will host the Toronto Varsity Blues Thursday in one quarter-final. McMaster came up with a crucial 3-1 win over the fourth-seeded Western Mustangs Wednesday as Daniel Smedley led the way with 16 kills. Sean Panchal had 30 assists for Mac, which lost the first set 25-19 but rallied to take the next three. Christopher Mokry had 12 kills for the Mustangs, while Mark Sidler tallied 11 digs. McMaster then blanked the Windsor Lancers 3-0 in a dominating performance Saturday at the Burridge Gym. Steve Murray had nine kills for the hosts. Panchal had 20 assists and eight digs. Dave Quinn led the Lancers with 10 kills.
Western (14-6) will host the Lions (13-7) in the second semi-final this Saturday. The winner of that match will take on Ryerson in the semis. York bounced back from its 3-0 loss to the Gaels by beating RMC 3-0 Sunday. Sholan Trivedi had 11 kills and Paul Podstawka had 31 assists. Matt Lorrain led the Paladins with 12 kills and 15 points.
Brendan Peel had 10 kills for the Varsity Blues (12-8), as they overwhelmed the Warriors in the final two sets of a 3-1 match Saturday. Waterloo tied the match at a set apiece but Toronto won 25-12 and 25-16 in the third and fourth sets to close out the match. The winner of the Blues-Marauders quarter-final will advance to play Queen's.
Elsewhere around the OUA, Windsor beat the Guelph Gryphons 3-0 Friday. Quinn had 18 kills for the Lancers, who finished out of the playoffs at 7-13.
(Photo: McMaster's Nathan Groenveld skies above the net for the kill in a meeting with Windsor. Photo by Cam Dunlop.)
Queen's (16-4) didn't concede a set all week as they posted back-to-back 3-0 wins over the RMC Paladins and the York Lions. Against RMC Wednesday, Jeff Demeza led the Gaels with 14 kills, while Devon Miller had 17 assists in the two games he played. Mohamed Slaibeh paced all players with 12 digs. Luke Litchy and Daniel McCrae had 10 kills each in the Gaels' convincing win over the defending OUA champs from York. On Saturday, Miller had 35 assists in the match and Steve Willis had a team-high 12 digs. York's Rob Dyba led all players with 14 digs.
The McMaster Marauders finished third in the OUA after posting two wins this week and will host the Toronto Varsity Blues Thursday in one quarter-final. McMaster came up with a crucial 3-1 win over the fourth-seeded Western Mustangs Wednesday as Daniel Smedley led the way with 16 kills. Sean Panchal had 30 assists for Mac, which lost the first set 25-19 but rallied to take the next three. Christopher Mokry had 12 kills for the Mustangs, while Mark Sidler tallied 11 digs. McMaster then blanked the Windsor Lancers 3-0 in a dominating performance Saturday at the Burridge Gym. Steve Murray had nine kills for the hosts. Panchal had 20 assists and eight digs. Dave Quinn led the Lancers with 10 kills.
Western (14-6) will host the Lions (13-7) in the second semi-final this Saturday. The winner of that match will take on Ryerson in the semis. York bounced back from its 3-0 loss to the Gaels by beating RMC 3-0 Sunday. Sholan Trivedi had 11 kills and Paul Podstawka had 31 assists. Matt Lorrain led the Paladins with 12 kills and 15 points.
Brendan Peel had 10 kills for the Varsity Blues (12-8), as they overwhelmed the Warriors in the final two sets of a 3-1 match Saturday. Waterloo tied the match at a set apiece but Toronto won 25-12 and 25-16 in the third and fourth sets to close out the match. The winner of the Blues-Marauders quarter-final will advance to play Queen's.
Elsewhere around the OUA, Windsor beat the Guelph Gryphons 3-0 Friday. Quinn had 18 kills for the Lancers, who finished out of the playoffs at 7-13.
(Photo: McMaster's Nathan Groenveld skies above the net for the kill in a meeting with Windsor. Photo by Cam Dunlop.)
