AROUND OUA: Warriors win 5th straight with sweep of Mustangs
To say the Waterloo men's volleyball team is hot right now would be an understatement as the black and gold topped their arch rivals Western in straight sets tonight for their fifth straight win. After a tough 1-3 start to open 2015, Waterloo has been on a tear taking down top OUA competition including Ryerson and now Western.
SCOREBOARD
Warriors win 5th straight with sweep of Mustangs
To say the Waterloo men's volleyball team is hot right now would be an understatement as the black and gold topped their arch rivals Western in straight sets tonight for their fifth straight win. After a tough 1-3 start to open 2015, Waterloo has been on a tear taking down top OUA competition including Ryerson and now Western.
The Warriors improved to 6-3 to sit third overall in the competitive OUA standings. Meanwhile, Western is heading in the opposite direction with their third straight loss as the Mustangs now sit at 4-4 on the season.
The recipe to Waterloo's success has been a solid mix of outside and middle attack and the Warriors kept that plain intact tonight with outside hitters Greg Simone (London), Aidan Simone (London), and Braden Cok (Waterloo) combining for 23 kills while middle hitters Jordan McConkey (Stratford) and Trevor Coathup (Ottawa) teamed up for 11. The Warriors also used strong serving to gain an advantage in the match putting away seven aces. Three of those came in succession as Greg Simone (London) collected three straight late in the opening set.
The final two sets were almost identical to each other as Western held a 16-12 lead at the technical timeouts but the scrappy Warriors would battle back to claim the sets, giving them the sweep.
Gibson Graham (Markham) was on point again in this game with 32 assists while Erich Woolley (New Dundee) dug the ball up five times.
Providing the attack for Western was Zeid Hamadeh with 11 kills while Gavin Taylor had 10.
Waterloo will close out 2015 with a pair of road games next week, first at RMC on Friday followed by a match with the second place Queen's Gaels on Saturday.
Source: Waterloo Warriors
Dakic leads the Gaels in a straight set win over the Gryphons
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 21, 2015)- The Queen's Gaels men's volleyball team extended its winning streak to six games on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC), defeating the Guelph Gryphons 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-20).
Marko Dakic (Mississauga, Ont.) recorded a game-high 12 points, and garnered a hitting efficiency of .611 in helping the Gaels improve to 7-1 in the regular season. Chris Brunet (Calgary, Alta.) picked up nine kills, and Mike Tomlinson added five kills and two solo blocks for Queen's, while Joshua Green topped the Gryphons (1-6) with seven kills in a losing cause.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first set, but the Gryphons found their footing and made up some of the deficit, putting together a 9-5 run that was capped with an ace from Zachary Newman, which brought them within three points of the lead.
The hosts railed off three-straight points coming out of the technical timeout, including a block from Jamie Wright (Kingston), which quickly prompted a timeout from Gryphons coach Cal Wigston. The Gaels, however, maintained their momentum throughout the conclusion of the first, taking the opening set 25-17.
The teams exchanged points early in the second set, but the home side pulled in front with four-straight points, including a solo block from Tomlinson, to take a 12-8 lead. Another kill from the Stratford, Ont. native moments later capped off a run in which the men picked up nine of a possible 11 points.
The streak seemed to deflate the Gryphons, who committed a number of unforced errors on their serve and at the net down the stretch. The Gaels offence, meanwhile, continued to roll forward, helping the hosts to a second set victory.
Guelph came out charging in the third, jumping out to a 6-2 lead after a serve from Conan Mickey clipped the net and found the open court. After a Queen's timeout, a long rally in which the Gaels played some excellent defence, twice denying the Gryphons the point, ended with a Brunet kill that brought the ARC crowd back to life. A big stuff soon after from Tyler Scheerhorn (Belleville, Ont.) brought the Gaels within two.
Queen's continued to surge, picking up five points in a row to take a 16-14 lead at the technical timeout. More great defence from the Gaels coming out of the break halted a stuttered Gryphon offence, pushing the host's lead up to three. The visitors responded with a small burst to tie the set, but two straight kills from Dakic and another stuff by Scheerhorn consolidated the Gael spread. Two consecutive errors from the Gryphons clinched the final set and match for Queen's.
The Gaels have a strong hold on second-place in the OUA standings, just a single game back of the McMaster Marauders, who are undefeated heading into their match against Windsor later on Saturday.
FINAL SAY
"One of the things we've been really good at all season was managing errors and making good decisions," said Head Coach Brenda Willis. "I thought this wasn't our best game for doing that, we made more errors than we have been. But what I really like was how composed we stayed despite those mistakes. Our energy was a bit flat in the third, but after going down 6-2, we were able to play with more urgency and not allow (Guelph) to dictate the play."
BY THE NUMBERS
30- The number of set assists by Jamie Wright
40- The total number of kills by Queen's, compared to 29 from Guelph
21- Errors committed by the Gryphons offence, while the Gaels committed six
UP NEXT
The Gaels conclude their regular season schedule before the holiday break next weekend at the ARC, when they host McMaster and Waterloo on Friday and Saturday respectively. Both games are set to begin at 8:00 p.m.
Source: Queen's Gaels
Efficient Marauders blast Lancers for eighth straight sweep
Working their way into Saturday's match, the Marauders steadily improved as it wore on, as they built their eighth straight sweep at the expense of the Windsor Lancers. Set scores were 25-18, 25-17 and 25-15 in favour of the CIS no. 1-ranked Marauders, who improved to 9-0 on the season with the result.
Hitting for at a ridiculous rate of 67 per cent efficiency, outside Stephen Maar led the match with 17 kills on 24 attempts versus just a single error, while adding a block and a half. Similarly efficient at 55 and 31 per cent respectively, Andrew Richards and Jayson McCarthy cracked double digits with 11.5 and 10 points.
It was hardly smooth sailing for the Marauders in the opening set, as the hosts struggled to find their offensive rhythm in the early going, and settled for side-out volleyball. But that began to change as the teams approached the technical timeout, and McCarthy gave his team a five-point lead at the break with a cut shot from the right wing.
That lead only grew as the set wore on, and after Maar put his full strength into a kill to bring up set point, his tip two points later brought the first to a close when a Windsor miscommunication saw the playable ball hit the floor.
Bouncing back well from the loss of the opening set, the Lancers played the Marauders to a neck-and-neck battle for much of the second. But a crucial momentum swing in the late stages saw McMaster pull ahead, after some ill-advised chirping from the Lancer sideline at 14-all. The Marauders embarked on an 11-4 run in the wake of that point, and claimed the set after a fantastic, one-handed set from Andrew Kocur was appropriately dusted off by McCarthy.
Having raced to the finish line in set two, the Marauders continued to pile on the pressure in the third, and enjoyed a seven-point cushion at the technical timeout after an attacking error from Windsor's Shawn Reaume. There was very little the Lancers could do in the face of an organized and determined Marauder team, and after McCarthy and Alex Elliott combined to bring up match points with a block, the night was ended by another Windsor attacking error, this time courtesy of Andre Khayat.
Source: McMaster Marauders
Rams prevail over Lakers in four sets
TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams men's volleyball team rallied in a critical third set to avoid falling behind and instead took a 2-1 lead en route to a 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-22, 25-19) victory over the visiting Nipissing Lakers on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Rams right side Robert Wojcik (Whitby, Ont.) had a match-high 18 kills while Lucas Coleman (Brooklin, Ont.) added 15 kills in the win. Libero Will Otten (Delaware, Ont.) had a strong game with eight digs including several important and impressive digs in that third set.
"Will led the defence tonight in aggressiveness and chasing down balls that were tough ones and he certainly was the leader by example," commented interim head coach Dustin Reid following the match.
The Rams were in control for much of the first set and led 16-9 at the technical timeout before the Lakers started to find their game. Ryerson's big lead held up down the stretch as the home side took the first set 25-21 to take a 1-0 lead.
Nipissing responded in the second set though, owning a 16-7 lead over the Rams at the technical timeout and activating their blocking game to deny a Ryerson comeback. The Lakers took the set 25-20 to tie the game.
The Lakers continued to own the momentum to start the third set and led at the technical timeout 16-14. Ryerson rallied, however, and finally took the lead at 20-19 from a Coleman kill. The Rams held on for the come back to take the set 25-22 and earn the all important 2-1 match lead.
In the fourth the teams went toe to toe with each other until three straight points made it 14-11 for the Rams and the home side never looked back after that, leading 16-12 at the technical timeout and going on to the 25-19 set win to take the 3-1 match victory.
Nipissing's Cameron Branch had 14 kills in the losing effort.
The Rams improve to 6-2 with the victory while Nipissing dips below .500 at 4-5 on the year. Ryerson is back in action next Friday, November 27 when they visit the Western Mustangs in London.
Source: Ryerson Rams
