February 20, 2006
TOP-SEEDED RAMS MOVE ON TO OUA FINALS
TORONTO - Everybody in the gym knew where the ball was going, but no one could stop it.
Ryan "Snake" Vandenburg capped off a sparkling performance with sharp cross-court kill to give Ryerson a 3-1 win over York (25-15, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23). The Rams now host to a best-of-three championship beginning Tuesday.
"Ryan has proven that he is a bright light," said coach Mirek Porosa. "He was a real leader and he carried the pressure on his back."
Vandenburg led all players with 25 kills but it was a complete team effort that gave the Rams their biggest ever win. They passed well, played great defence and scored 56 kills compared to 38 for York.
"The key was to just treat it like another game," said Porosa. "We have proven that we have the skills and we did it."
For the first two sets Ryerson was able to capitalize on a disorganized, mistake-prove opponent and cruised to a 2-0 lead. Afterwards, York replaced setter Paul Potstawka with Brad Girardo and that gave them new life.
In the third set, a pair of Rams hitting errors gave the Lions a 16-14 lead and that sparked them to a win. York maintained their momentum into the fourth set and took a 16-10 lead. Vandenburg responded with a pair of aces and Roger Marszalek had a huge one-on-one block which energized the enthusiastic crowd of nearly 400 Rams fans.
On the final point of the game, with Ryerson leading 24-23 setter Greg Marszalek set to Vandenburg who was named the player of the game.
"I wanted the last ball, but I didn't, you know," said Vandenburg. "We knew York was keying on me but Greg is a great setter and it was a perfect set, so I cut it around the block."
A York defender was able to touch the ball, but couldn't dig it up. With the ball down, the fans and players flew into a frenzy.
"To win in that fashion, to come back, was such a thrill," Vandenburg said. "Our fans were crazy, they were like a seventh player out there."
Porosa was happy with the way his team performed but said that in the final they will have to serve more consistently. The Rams hit 9 services aces, but missed 22 serves.
"I thought we were going to server better," he said. "That let us down a little, we kept them in the game by missing so many serves, but our strategy was to take a lot of risk and prevent them from passing well."
Vandenburg led the Rams with 30 points while recently named rookie of the year Oleh Kovalchuk was second with 8 kills and three aces. Rams middles Matt Fugard and Nic Beaver had great games scoring seven kills and controlling the net with their blocks.
Girardo, with 21 set assists, was named the player of the game for York. Sholan Trivedi led them with 12 kills
The first-place Rams will now play the second-place Queen's University Golden Gaels in the final. Ryerson will host the first and third game (in necessary) of the best-of-three championship.
The series kicks off Tuesday (Feb. 21) at 8 p.m. at Ryerson's Kerr Hall Gymnasium. The teams have met four times in regular season and exhibition play with the Rams winning each match. However, in the most recent meeting, Ryerson came back from a 14-10 deficit to narrowly win in the fifth set.
Porosa said no one will be underestimating Queen's. "They're a good team, they have lots of depth. I like their style of play and we're going to be ready for them."
The Rams have never won a championship or played in the OUA final. The winner of the series will advance to the Canadian national championships from March 3-5 in Hamilton.
(Source: Adam Button, Ryerson Sports Information.)
(Photo: OUA MVP Ryan Vandenburg cranks it in Ryerson's semi-final win over York. Photo by Matt Smolka.)
Ryan "Snake" Vandenburg capped off a sparkling performance with sharp cross-court kill to give Ryerson a 3-1 win over York (25-15, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23). The Rams now host to a best-of-three championship beginning Tuesday.
"Ryan has proven that he is a bright light," said coach Mirek Porosa. "He was a real leader and he carried the pressure on his back."
Vandenburg led all players with 25 kills but it was a complete team effort that gave the Rams their biggest ever win. They passed well, played great defence and scored 56 kills compared to 38 for York.
"The key was to just treat it like another game," said Porosa. "We have proven that we have the skills and we did it."
For the first two sets Ryerson was able to capitalize on a disorganized, mistake-prove opponent and cruised to a 2-0 lead. Afterwards, York replaced setter Paul Potstawka with Brad Girardo and that gave them new life.
In the third set, a pair of Rams hitting errors gave the Lions a 16-14 lead and that sparked them to a win. York maintained their momentum into the fourth set and took a 16-10 lead. Vandenburg responded with a pair of aces and Roger Marszalek had a huge one-on-one block which energized the enthusiastic crowd of nearly 400 Rams fans.
On the final point of the game, with Ryerson leading 24-23 setter Greg Marszalek set to Vandenburg who was named the player of the game.
"I wanted the last ball, but I didn't, you know," said Vandenburg. "We knew York was keying on me but Greg is a great setter and it was a perfect set, so I cut it around the block."
A York defender was able to touch the ball, but couldn't dig it up. With the ball down, the fans and players flew into a frenzy.
"To win in that fashion, to come back, was such a thrill," Vandenburg said. "Our fans were crazy, they were like a seventh player out there."
Porosa was happy with the way his team performed but said that in the final they will have to serve more consistently. The Rams hit 9 services aces, but missed 22 serves.
"I thought we were going to server better," he said. "That let us down a little, we kept them in the game by missing so many serves, but our strategy was to take a lot of risk and prevent them from passing well."
Vandenburg led the Rams with 30 points while recently named rookie of the year Oleh Kovalchuk was second with 8 kills and three aces. Rams middles Matt Fugard and Nic Beaver had great games scoring seven kills and controlling the net with their blocks.
Girardo, with 21 set assists, was named the player of the game for York. Sholan Trivedi led them with 12 kills
The first-place Rams will now play the second-place Queen's University Golden Gaels in the final. Ryerson will host the first and third game (in necessary) of the best-of-three championship.
The series kicks off Tuesday (Feb. 21) at 8 p.m. at Ryerson's Kerr Hall Gymnasium. The teams have met four times in regular season and exhibition play with the Rams winning each match. However, in the most recent meeting, Ryerson came back from a 14-10 deficit to narrowly win in the fifth set.
Porosa said no one will be underestimating Queen's. "They're a good team, they have lots of depth. I like their style of play and we're going to be ready for them."
The Rams have never won a championship or played in the OUA final. The winner of the series will advance to the Canadian national championships from March 3-5 in Hamilton.
(Source: Adam Button, Ryerson Sports Information.)
(Photo: OUA MVP Ryan Vandenburg cranks it in Ryerson's semi-final win over York. Photo by Matt Smolka.)
