M-VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: Western set to host McMaster, Waterloo and Queen's
McMaster Marauders 3 York Lions 1
Hamilton, Ont. - The McMaster men's volleyball team won their first playoff game over the York Lions on Saturday night. In the four-set win, the Marauders advance to the OUA Semifinals at Western University next weekend. Set scores were 25-17, 25-19, 22-25, 25-17 in favour of the Marauders,
Both teams seemed evenly matched through the beginning of the first set, utilizing middles on either side of the court. Tied up through 9, the Marauders would take the first significant lead of the set at 12-9, forcing the Lions to call their first timeout.
Middle Alex Elliott was coming up big on offence for McMaster, as well as veteran Jeremy Groenveld. By the technical timeout, the Marauders would maintain that three point lead, heading into the second half of the first set, up 16-13.
After the timeout, serves from Elliott would prove to be troublesome for York, as the Marauders really beat up their lead from there. A block from McMaster as 21-15 would give the Marauders the momentum they needed to finish off the set and they would go on to win it 25-17.
York took a slight lead early on in the second set, but it would be quickly made up by the Marauders. With a kill from Elliott and a couple blocks, McMaster would find themselves up 10-6, forcing the Lions to call a time out. It wouldn’t help as Groenveld and Stevens were big from the outside, connecting with setter TJ Sanders for points. At the technical timeout, the Marauders would lead 16-12.
After the timeout, the Lions would get within three, but at 20-15, the Marauders would command the lead due to some mistakes on York’s side of the court. McMaster would maintain and build on that lead to win the second set 25-19.
It took until the third set for the Lions to finally come alive, making the Marauders work for their points. Despite some nice kills from Groenveld in the back row, York would put up some big blocks that the Marauders couldn’t get past, taking a 12-9 lead early on.
The Lions and the Marauders would continue to trade points and some serves from Groenveld just before the timeout would get the Marauders within two at 16-14 in favour of York.
Kills from Elliott and Jori Mantha, along with some York mistakes, would have both teams tied at 18. The Lions would utilize their left sides in the second half of the set, and would regain their lead back at 22-19. After McMaster called their second timeout of the match, a kill from Groenveld and an ace from Mantha would force the Lions to call a timeout of their own.
The Lions would ultimately force a fourth set in the match, winning the third, 25-22.
Coming off a shaky third set, the Marauders had their sights set on the win in the fourth. With rookie Daniel Groenveld taking the floor for McMaster, the Marauders earned the early 12-7. The rookie contributed early on to the Marauders’ success, helping them head into the technical timeout, 16-10.
McMaster’s block would be too much for the Lions to handle in the fourth. That, along with some keys plays from Mantha, would allow the Marauders to soar to the OUA semifinals with a 25-17 fourth set win over the Lions.
Jeremy Groenveld and Jori Mantha both had 13 points for the Marauders in the win. Setter TJ Sanders recorded 33 assists.
For York, Karim Khalil also had 13 points. The only other Lions to hit double-digits was Nikola Sandic who had another 10.
The Marauders will face rivals, the Queen's Gaels, next weekend at the OUA Final Four hosted by Western University.
Source: McMaster Marauders Athletics
Queen’s Gaels 3 Guelph Gryphons 2
KINGSTON, Ont. (February 18, 2012) – In what started out as an all Gryphons affair, quickly turned into one of the best matches the Gaels have played all season. After falling down two sets to none to the visiting Guelph Gryphons Queen's was able to mount a comeback taking the next two sets along with the fifth and deciding set for the 3-2 win. Set scores finished 21-25, 24-26, 25-19, 25-13, 15-8.
The Gaels were led once again by Cambridge, Ont. native Joren Zeeman who had a game high 22 kills to go along with seven digs, five serving aces and one solo plus three assisted blocks.
“We started out just playing alright, but then really kept taking it to them.” said Zeeman after the win. “Our float servers started putting them in trouble and we started to get their offense figured out.”
The Gryphons got off to a strong start edging the Gaels in the first two sets and narrowly escaping the second 26-24. The team had three players in double digit kills and double digit blocks as they played a strong team game. Winston Rosser of Whitby, Ont. led the way with 13 kills and eight digs.
The Gaels slowly started to gain control taking a close third set 25-19 then breaking away in set four 25-13. The team got out to a quick start in set five and never looked back finishing off Guelph 15-8 for the win. Jackson Dakin of Courtenay, B.C. had a game high 48 assists and 14 digs while adding three kills of his own. Will Sidgwick of Toronto chipped in with 10 kills and nine digs of his own.
Queen's will now move on to the OUA final four next weekend which will be hosted by the No. 5 Western Mustangs.
Source: Queen's Gaels
Waterloo Warriors 3 Windsor Lancers 0
The Waterloo men's volleyball team punched their ticket to the OUA final four with a straight set victory (25-18, 25-15, 25-21) over the Windsor Lancers on Friday night in quarter-final action.
The Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 set lead with a 25-18 win in the first. Waterloo took advantage of a number of errors by the Lancers early to gain the advantage. The home team had four service errors and eight attacking errors compared to just two and five for Waterloo.
The Warriors continued their strong play in the second set as they led from start to finish on the strength of four kills each from Fiodar Kazhamiaka (Waterloo) and Cameron Wheelan (Barrie). Waterloo claimed the second set 25-15.
Set three was the most tightly contested battle of the match as the Lancers battled hard to get back into the match. Using the support of a large and animated crowd at the St. Denis Centre, the home team held even with the Warriors throughout before building a slight 19-17 advantage.
However, the Warriors roared back with five straight points to take a 22-19 lead before ultimately winning the set 25-21 and claiming the playoff match victory.
Kazhamiaka led the Warrior attack with 12 kills while adding one block and five digs. Wheelan was the top pointer getter in the match with 15 on the strength of 10 kills, three service aces and four blocks. Setter Scott Thomson (St. Marys) had 32 assists in the win.
The Warriors take on the Western Mustangs next Friday at 7:30pm in the OUA semifinals. Western is the host of the OUA final four with the other semi's featuring McMaster and Windsor.
