M-Volleyball Saturday Roundup

Rookie Nikola Sandic led all scorers with 15 points, Paul Jakubiak had a game-high 28 assists and the York University Lions defeated the Royal Military College Paladins by a score of 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-9) in men's volleyball on Saturday (Feb. 5) at Tait McKenzie Centre.  

Sandic (Etobicoke, Ont.) had a game-high 15 kills, which accounted for all of his points. Ray Szeto (Sutton, Ont.) was second in team scoring with 11 points on nine kills, one service ace and one block.

Sean Vanthournout (Sackville, N.B.) led the Paladins in scoring with 10 points. Brent Fisher (Kingston, Ont.) had a game-high seven digs. 

Both teams traded points throughout an evenly matched first set.

With the set tied at 20-20, however, Szeto took over. Szeto threw down three huge kills that helped the Lions to a 24-23 lead. The Lions went on to win the set 26-24 on a Paladins' shot that sailed out of bounds.

The Paladins jumped out to an early 7-6 lead to begin the second set, but the Lions eventually found their rhythm and cruised to the 25-19 set win.

With the set tied at 10-10, Sandic threw down a huge kill to take over on serve. On the ensuing service game, the Lions put together a 3-0 run thanks to kills from Szeto and Karim Khalil (Mississauga, Ont.).

Khalil added yet another kill on Sandic's next service game to help keep a 4-0 run alive that gave the Lions a commanding 19-13 lead. It was smooth sailing from there. 

In the third set, the Lions improved their play and proved to be too much for the Paladins.

The Lions took an 8-2 lead into the first technical timeout courtesy of a block from Felipe Humana-Paredes (Toronto) and points from Khalil and Jakubiak (Toronto).

Following the technical, Szeto and Paredes each threw down a kill before their squadmates put together a 4-0 run on Marvin Macalino's (Aurora, Ont.) service game. Sam Song (North York, Ont.) and Gregory Ivan (Toronto) combined for three kills on the run, which put the Lions up 15-4. 

Sandic then added two huge kills to put the Lions up 19-6. Szeto ended the set six points later with his ninth kill of the game. 

Source: York Sports Info

Queen's, 3 @ Ryerson, 2 Box Score
Joren Zeeman of Camrbidge, Ont., recorded a season high 30 points as the Queen's Gaels edged the Ryerson Rams 3-2 in OUA men's volleyball on Saturday.

The Gaels overcame a late scare from the Rams and won with set scores of 25-20; 25-23; 22-25; 25-27; 15-10. Queen's were ahead 2-0 before Ryerson fought back to tie the game at two sets apiece. The Gaels would finish strong at 15-10.

Zeeman registered 26 kills which was 13 more than any other player. It was his highest total of the season surpassing the 19 kills he registered back on November 5 against Waterloo.

Dan Rosenbaum of Hamilton, Ont., registered a season high 60 assists bettering his 56 he posted against Western on January 22.

Niko Rukavina of Mississauga, Ont., and Bryan Fautley of Oakville, Ont., also had solid games contributing 18 and 17 points respectively while combining for 29 kills on 45 attempts.

Toronto's George Sakvarelidze was Ryerson's top player with 13 kills, one block, one ace for 15 points.

Source: Queen’s Sports Info

McMaster, 1 @ Guelph, 3 Box Score
The Guelph Gryphon men’s volleyball team took on the McMaster Marauders tonight (Feb. 5) at the W.F. Mitchell Centre in Guelph. The two well-matched teams battled it out in an intense game with the Gryphons finally coming out on top 3-1. Set scores were 25-23, 25-19, 20-25, and 25-21.

The first set started out strong for the Gryphons, as they maintained a small lead over the Marauders who held second place in OUA standings. McMaster came with a strong offensive court with three statistically high scorers Kevin Stevens (Winnipeg, MB), Tyler Santoni (Kingston, ON), and Jori Mantha (Vanier, ON) who all contributed kills for the Marauders. Shayne Petrusma (Burlington, ON) also led his team this match in kills.  But, the Gryphons were able to keep up strong against the Marauders as the score went up point by point, and with help from Kevin Carey’s (Grand Prairie, AB) strategic blocks and tips, finished the first set a close 25-23.

The Gryphons dominated the second set all the way through and they kept a good lead on the Marauders. Guelph demonstrated great blocking, especially Andrew McWilliams (North Dunwich, ON) who shut out multiple attempts. The Marauders struggled with returning Gryphon attacks, and due to a lack of communication found themselves running into each other if their blocks failed. The second set finished a confident 25-19.

The third set proved to be difficult for the Gryphons. The Marauders were not ready to give up this game and pushed themselves to overcome Guelph. The combination of Josh Lichty’s (St. Catharines, ON) setting and the strong offensive lines helped the Marauders build a significant lead. The Gryphons worked hard to catch up, but with unnecessary errors and a few controversial referee calls, they remained a few points behind right until the end. The Marauder’s took the set 20-25.

The Gryphons started out extremely shaky in the fourth. Within only minutes, the Marauders had built a six point lead and Guelph was trailing behind. Stevens and Mantha continued to add up points for McMaster and it seemed as though this game was going to enter a fifth and final set. But then, half way through, the Gryphons began to pick up momentum. With Revie’s unstoppable attacks and Winston Rosser (Whitby, ON) shutting down multiple Marauder attempts, McMaster started to get nervous as the Gryphons score rose.

The end was close and at one point the two teams sat 21-20 and the tension filled the court. The competition that McMaster brought really pushed the Gryphon’s to their full potential and they ended with some amazing plays. Guelph finished the set 25-21 and won their final home game of the regular season 3-1.

The Gryphons were led by Winston Rosser with 14 total points (12 kills, 2 ace, 8 digs) while the Marauders were led by Jori Mantha with 20 total points (17 kills, 4 digs).

Source: Guelph Sports Info

Waterloo, 0 @ Western, 3 Box Score
The Western Mustangs easily swept the Waterloo Warriors 3-0 Saturday night at Alumni Hall.

Set scores were 25-18, 25-17 and 25-23.

In the first set, Western was able to frustrate Waterloo en route to a score of 16-9 at the second technical timeout. Reid Halpenny had four kills and Patrick Johnston eight digs in the 25-18 win. 

The Mustangs easily took the second set with a final score of 25-17. Up 8-2 at the first technical, Waterloo could not find themselves defensively. Garrett May contributed five kills in the second set. 

The third set was a back-and-forth contest that could have gone either way. The Mustangs held on for the victory though and were able to sweep the Warriors 3-0 with a set score of 25-23.

Players of the game were May for the Mustangs and the Warriors’ Aleks Poldma.

Western was also able to honour its graduating athletes in front of the home fans tonight. Payton Holliss, Johnston and Halpenny were each presented with their team jerseys. Said coach Jim Sage of the veterans, “They are an incredible bunch of people as opposed to just volleyball players. I like them as much off the court as I do on the court. They are friends to me.”

The win puts the Mustangs at 17-2 on the season, good for first in the OUA. The last regular season game of the year next weekend against Toronto won’t be a cakewalk for Western. “They’re a spirited team and they’ll give us a run for our money if we’re not careful,” noted Sage. “We have too much on the line at this point, so we’ll go into the game with specific goals.”

Source: Western Sports Info

Laurier, 0 @ Windsor, 3 Box Score