OUA Men's Volleyball Roundup (Feb. 26)

February 20, 2018

Waterloo 3 Windsor 2

The Waterloo men's volleyball team got that much closer to their 10th straight OUA playoff appearance with a thrilling 5-set victory over the Lancers on Tuesday night in Windsor.

It was the fifth straight win for Waterloo and the Warriors moved to 9-7 on the season,with 18 points, two back of Windsor. Guelph, with two games remaining, at 14 points can still catch the Warriors who occupy the fourth and final playoff spot. 

Waterloo collected the opening two sets 25-23, 25-16 before dropping the next two 23-25, 20-25. In a back and forth fifth set Waterloo pulled away late, claiming the set 15-11 and match 3-2.

Braden Cok (Waterloo/) was massive with 19 points on 17 kills and three blocks while Aidan Simone (London/) was just as good with 18.5 points. Rounding out Waterloo's outside attack was Deman Dulat (Mississauga/) who had nine kills and three blocks.  

Up in the middle Matthew Mawdsley (London/) was back in the lineup and was a physical presence with seven kills, six blocks, two service aces for 12 points. Jordan McConkey (Stratford/) was also a big factor in the victory with eight kills and four blocks.

Defensivley, Simone collected 18 digs while Colm Guyn (Lethbridge/) set the Warriors up all night long with 43 assists.

Source: athletics.uwaterloo.ca

February 23, 2018

RMC 1 Ryerson 3

TORONTO - For the Ryerson Rams seniors, they got to cap off the celebration of their careers with a bang as the Rams defeated the hard-charging RMC Paladins 3-1 on senior’s night Friday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

The Rams paid tribute to four of their most valuable and storied players in Lucas Coleman (Brooklin, Ont.), Adam Anagnostopoulos (Waterloo, Ont.), Brendan Kewin (Milton, Ont.), and Brett Whitley (Brighton, Ont.). While the night began as a testament to their careers and impact on the program, team-leader Coleman insists that the outgoing seniors treated the game as though it were any other.

“It was a great feeling to be congratulated at the start of the game, but our focus this year is so much larger than just one game,” he said. “We have playoffs coming up at home, so that game will definitely bring a lot of emotions.”

Having just recently shunted the Paladins 3-0 on their own home court, the Rams were surprised to find themselves trailing after the first set. The Paladins capitalized on Rams mistakes and used them to build momentum and push to a nail-biting 26-24 win in the first set. The core of outgoing seniors, including Coleman with a game-high 19 kills, would turn up the intensity to run out the following three sets for the victory. However, the Paladins had made their mark with the first set.

“I think we were taught a lesson tonight in just pure heart and desire by RMC,” Rams head coach Adam Simac said. “RMC are big on heart and I have nothing but admiration for those guys. I hope our guys can learn something from that tonight.”

Coming back for the victory was crucial as the Rams close out their season Sunday afternoon to move into the post-season. Strong performances by the seniors and new players such as Simon Davis-Power (Conception Bay South, Nfld.) - one of whom’s kills nearly left a crater in the Mattamy court floor - showed that the Rams are not only ready for the playoffs, but for the future with a new lineup. Holding on to the top of the OUA East, the Rams have already begun the playoffs as far as they are concerned.

“For us, the playoffs started tonight,” Simac said. “We tried to treat this as a quarter-final game one, and we have another quarter-final on Sunday. We need to start the right way and we need to continue playing the right way, because the scary thing about playoffs - especially with this quarter-final - is you have a bad day and that’s your season right there. Being very careful of every touch because each point is precious.”

As far as the future past the playoffs is concerned, the Ryerson Rams are in good hands.

“I hope that [the seniors] have left behind a culture of strong worth ethic and putting the team before yourself,” Coleman said. “Personally, that’s something I had a tough time learning, but Adam Simac has been a fantastic mentor for me. I think the team’s legacy is in strong hands with this young core of guys. I’m really excited to come back in the future and watch them compete.”

Source: ryersonrams.ca

Trent 0 McMaster 3

Postseason positioning was still on the line on the final day of the Marauders regular season Friday, and they duly delivered a win to pave their way.

McMaster dealt the winless Trent Excalibur one last defeat, 25-12, 25-12, 25-13, to secure the top seed in the OUA West and hosting rights throughout the OUA playoffs, finishing the conference schedule with a 15-2 record.

The Marauders will now play host to the Nipissing Lakers in a quarterfinal match at Burridge Gym on Saturday, March 3.

Hitting a blistering .443 as a team in the straightforward win, the Marauders amassed 36 kills and just nine hitting errors as a group Friday.

The most efficient of them was outside Craig Ireland (Beamsville, ON), who knocked down seven kills on nine attempts with just a single error (.667) to score all of his points with his swing.

McMaster's leading scorer was Andrew Richards (London, ON), whose game high 8.5 points included six kills, two aces and a block assist.

Source: marauders.ca

Guelph 2 Western 3

LONDON, Ont. – The Mustangs won't celebrate Senior Day until tomorrow, but that didn't stop Chris Newcombe and Zeid Hamadeh from stealing the show in Fridays five set win over the Guelph Gryphons. 
 
With the win the purple and white record moves to 13-3, and they've already locked up second place in the OUA West. Guelph's 7-9 record puts them in fifth, with the loss officially eliminating the team from playoff contention.
 
"It helped us get better and that's what we want to focus on," said head coach Jim Sage about the team's performance. "These games are against really good teams that will make us better for our playoff game next Saturday. Hopefully things carry over […] our goal is always to get better whether or not we go up or down in the standings."
 
Newcombe and Hamadeh – both of whom will be recognized during tomorrow's Senior Day ceremony – led the Mustangs offence with 17 and 15 points respectively. Defensively, Matt Hooker and Nathan Phelps led the Mustangs with 11 digs apiece, while graduating senior Bryn Ramsay had 10. 
 
Middle Matthew Baxter led the Gryphons with a 15 point performance, while Kendrick Kerr was close behind with 13.5 points of his own.
 
"We have a bit of a rivalry with [Guelph], and we wanted to send them home today," said libero Nathan Phelps. "They're also the only team in the league we haven't beaten yet. […] We wanted to have a bit of a revenge game, for sure."
 
The first set was arguably one of the tightest games the Mustangs have played in months, with the teams being only one or two points apart for the majority of the set.
 
Zachary Newman was largely responsible for Guelph keeping up with Western, as the outside racked up seven kills throughout the set.  However, the team was also working against themselves by handing the Mustangs seven points from serving errors.  As a point of comparison, Western only recorded three serving errors.
 
Guelph and Western remained locked together on the scoreboard, with the Gryphons utilizing a large portion of their bench throughout the set. Ten different athletes would hit the floor as head coach Cal Wigston was quick to adjust his lineup anytime a new strength emerged on the purple and white end of the court.
 
The score remained close right up until the final point, with Guelph only holding a two-point lead at the end of the game (25-23).
 
Western responded by opening the following set with a four-point run to force Guelph into an early timeout.  The lead would eventually be erased by the Gryphons to tie things up at 19-19.
 
Neither team gave up unearned points as the end of the set drew closer, forcing the teams into more substantial rallies. Defensively speaking, Hooker was all over the court, an effort matched by Guelph's Josh Green.
 
However, both Green and Guelph's blockers struggled to get a read on Cranshaw and Hamadeh as the duo combined for ten kills.  The offensive breakout for both athletes marked a staunch departure from the previous set where the duo combined for only two kills. 
 
The Gryphons were, however, successful in cutting down the threat from Bryn Ramsay. The fifth-year veteran has been a standout on the purple and white roster all season and typically leads the team's offence by averaging around three kills a set.
 
Kendrick Kerr was the most successful blocker on the Gryphon scoresheet, but the team as a whole collected four stops throughout the second set.
 
Despite Guelph's ability to keep a lid on Western's biggest offensive threat, the Mustangs rolled to a 25-22 victory.
 
Blocking continued to be strong in the third set, but this time it was Baxter who led the effort. After terrorizing Western at the net all evening, he brought an end to the third frame with a massive block to bring the Gryphons' score to 25.
 
"We were in control of both the sets that we lost, and then they kind of slipped away. They showed a lot of heart to bounce back [for the fourth set]."
 
Western was able to stall Guelph at the 23-point mark thanks to a strong performance from Newcombe, but a missed serve returned momentum to the Gryphons.
 
"He knows he's on his last run, and he's going to go hard. He plays with a ton of heart," said Sage about the graduating senior's performance.
 
Despite struggling during the first set, Guelph's performance from the service line was one of the strongest points of their game. They put up four aces throughout the set while minimizing the errors.
 
Guelph would keep the number of service errors low throughout fourth set but struggled to stay as close to the purple and white score as they did in earlier sets.
 
The Mustangs were blocking better than they had all game, with Hooker, Newcombe, Hamadeh, Ramsay and Hammond all shutting down Guelph at the net.  The Gryphons started swinging harder only to send the ball out the back of the court.
 
"We work at [blocking] a lot. We take away angles for certain hitters, but sometimes our block is just meant for our defense to dig it up," noted Sage. "Hammond was great in that way, he made some adjustments and kept shutting down one of their best middles. It made a difference."
 
As a result Guelph's hitting percentage hit a match-low in the fourth, coming up negative with 12 errors and only ten kills.
 
With Guelph's offence unable to generate points, the Mustangs built up the most substantial lead of the match for a 25-16 win to force a fifth set.
 
Both teams made a couple of costly serving errors early in the fifth, but Western would be the first to hit the eight-point mark.
 
Communication on the Guelph end began to break down after switching sides at the halfway mark as the team allowed balls to drop between athletes. A pair of subs joined the floor in an attempt to get the team back on track, but Newcombe and Ramsay had a different plan for the end of the game.
 
The duo stepped up to lead the Mustangs offensively in the short set, allowing the team to take a 15-12 victory to win the match.
 
"There were times when we didn't quite match their intensity and other times – like in the fifth set – we did. That was where it really showed, that we were ready. Our blocking and defense really showed up when we needed it to."

Source: westernmustangs.ca

February 24, 2018

Waterloo 1 Western 3

LONDON, Ont. – Graduating senior Zeid Hamadehtopped the scoresheet on Senior Day, leading the Western Mustangs to a four set victory over the Waterloo Warriors at Alumni Hall.
 
The Mustangs' record moves to 14-3, with the purple and white finish. With the loss, Waterloo ends the regular season with a 9-8 record to sit fourth in the same division.
 
"They came out strong and we had to ride the tide a bit," said middle Sean Boyne about the matchup. "We played well in the first and second set, third set there was a bit of a hiccup but we worked throughout it and came out strong in the forth set."
 
Hamadeh led the Mustangs in points, totaling 12.5 after ten kills and a handful of blocks. Bryn Ramsay finished with nine points, while Boyne finished with seven points.
 
Rookie Brady Fidler had one of the strongest defensive performances of the night with eight digs, while setter Matt Hooker led with ten.
 
Waterloo relied on Andrew Smondulak to generate points, as he finished with a team-high 8.5. Jacob Nesbitt followed with eight, while Waylon Chen led the team's defensive effort with 11 digs.
 
Prior to the game Western honoured Chris Newcombe, Bryn Ramsay, and Hamadeh in a Senior Day ceremony, recognizing the trio for their various contributions to Mustangs volleyball. Newcombe and Ramsay both spent five years with the team, while Hamadeh has donned the purple and white for four seasons.
 
The Mustangs opened the match with a variation on the regular lineup that saw Boyne and Fidler hit the floor alongside mainstays Matt Hooker, Nathan Phelps, Newcombe, Ramsay, and Hamadeh – combining the veterans with up-and-coming talent.
 
Western rushed throughout the first set, finishing with a 12-point lead at 25-13. 
 
A diverse offensive effort kept the Waterloo blockers on their toes, as Fidler, Hamadeh, and Ramsay shared opportunities at the net. However, it would be Boyne that would come out as the top offensive threat after picking up a point on each of his three attacks. 
 
"Sean has been great in practice and it's really starting to show with his quickness," noted head coach Jim Sagewhen asked about Boyne's performance. "His footwork has improved so much, and we're really pleased and excited for him next year."
 
Waterloo struggled to keep the ball in the court through the majority of the set, a mistake that they would carry into the following frame.
 
Gianfranco Sartor and Evan Hammond joined the floor for the second set and quickly made their presence known at the net. Hammond has been one of the Mustangs' best blockers for the majority of the season, and is consistently one of the team's most efficient attackers.
 
Sartor, one of the younger athletes on the purple and white roster, has seen less time throughout the season but proved himself to be an up-and-coming threat on the floor.
 
Both athletes contributed to the purple and white blocking effort, which would shut down the Warriors offence five times in the set.
 
Waterloo switched up their lineup in response, but the players were unable to balance hitting both around the block and into the court. All three of the most frequently set athletes had racked up more errors than kills by the end of the set, allowing the Mustangs to take the second by a score of 25-14.
 
The score remained tighter in the third set, as the Warriors began to adjust to the purple and white block and were quick to switch up their line at the first sign of trouble.
 
With the score tied at 12-12, the Warriors were playing their best set of the match.
 
"Our serve receive broke down a little, especially with rotating some guys in and communication. Passing wasn't as fine tuned as it could have been, but it's something we can work through in practice and hopefully won't be a problem moving forward," said Boyne about the third set.
 
Philippe Piche's defensive effort made a big impact in Waterloo's ability to compete, while Nesbitt led the team in blocking. However, Smondulak  and Coathup arguably played the biggest role. The entire Waterloo roster struggled to generate points in the first two sets, but the duo combined for eight kills in the third to lead the Warriors to a 25-16 win.
 
Ramsay returned to the floor for the final set of the evening and was immediately identifiable as the most dominating athlete on the floor.  Regardless of whether the veteran was in the front row, he was the go-to for Hooker as he consistently beat Waterloo's blockers.
 
He also made a big impact on the service line, with back-to-back aces.  
 
His performance was the deciding factor in Western's 25-17 victory, totaling 9.5 points in a single set.

Source: westernmustangs.ca

February 25, 2018

Ryerson 1 Nipissing 3

It wasn't the start they were looking for, but the Nipissing Lakers men's volleyball bounced back in a big way.

After losing the first set badly, the Lakers won three straight sets to claim a 3-1 win over Ryerson, picking up their fourth win of the season and going into the playoffs on a high note.

The match started off with the teams playing even through the early part of the first set, but after leading 16-8 at the technical timeout, Ryerson ran away with the set, winning 25-9.

In the second set, the Lakers responded to a tough loss and evened up the match.

Nipissing held a 16-12 lead at the technical timeout, extend their lead to 22-18 and held on for a 25-22 win.

The third set was a battle, with Nipissing trailing 16-15 at the timeout.

The two teams traded points down the stretch, with Nipissing outlasting the Rams to take the set 25-23.

Up a set, the Lakers looked to close out the match in the fourth and led 16-10 at the technical timeout.

Leading 24-16 looking to close out the match, the Lakers had to stop a late run by the Rams, which consisted of six straight points, but a Steve Wood kill sealed the victory and gave the Lakers the match.

The Lakers were led by Cameron Branch who had 21 kills and 23 points, Wood had 10 kills and Jeremie Murray had six kills and 7.5 points in today's win.

With today's win, the Lakers move to 10-8 on the season and will now prepare for Round 1 of the OUA Playoffs, which begin March 3 at McMaster.

Source: nulakers.ca

Guelph 3 Windsor 2

WINDSOR – There wasn't anything more on the line than pride. The Guelph Gryphons men's volleyball team played with purpose and grit to close its 2017/18 OUA season out with a tough, five-set win (25-17, 17-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-9) over the playoff-bound Windsor Lancers Sunday afternoon at the St. Denis Centre.
 
Guelph (8-9) was already eliminated from postseason contention but the 2017 OUA bronze medalists made it a priority to finish the season strong.
 
"We told the guys that we're here to win," said head coach Cal Wigston. "It's not just for fun. They were focused and dialed in. They knew it was the last game of the season but they wanted to win."
 
Zachary Newman paced the Gryphons with 14 kills, while Matthew Baxter added 12, to go with 3 aces and 3 blocks. Second-year setter Daiken Edwards had 31 assists. The Gryphons hit .189 on the day and after a rough second-set in which they committed 9 errors, the visitors cleaned things up and had just 13 in the final three sets.
 
Wigston was looking for some scoring from the left side lately and moved the fourth-year Newman over there, giving Baxter, a second-year player, the opportunity to shine on the right. It's been a good change for the Gryphons and could be a sign of what's to come next season.
 
"Zach has done such a good job playing out of position," the coach said, acknowledging Newman's deft passing, an important requirement for left side hitters. "And Matt is becoming more of a presence. He's really still learning how to play but he has such a thirst for knowledge."
 
Guelph got off to a great start in the first set before Windsor took the second to tie the match 1-1.
 
"We came out of the gates flying," said Wigston. "The boys did a phenomenal job. We served aggressively and made life difficult for them."

The Gryphons regained the lead after a strong third set but the hosts responded again, sending it to a decisive fifth. The motivated Guelph squad built leads of
4-0, 9-3 and 13-6 before rookie Zarko Ubiparip came up with a huge kill to make it 14-8. The match ended when Samuel Kloke set up Kendrick Kerr for the final kill of the afternoon, and the season.
 
Wigston had plenty of praise for Ubiparip, who flashed power and efficiency when called upon, racking up 7 kills. He's a player to be excited about.
 
"That will be our lineup of the future," Wigston said, noting the loss of seniors Joshua Green, Kaj Wigston and David Duhan will be felt. "We'll be in a good place next year."
 
Wigston said the he and the team lament two particular home losses – a five-setter to Windsor back in October and another five-setter to Brock last month – that he felt derailed the Gryphons' playoff hopes. The coach was admittedly bitter about competing for the last time this year despite beating a good Windsor team.
 
"I'm not ready for the season to be over," Wigston said. "We still want to be playing. The guys are still hungry and in good shape.
 
"They all had smiles at the end. I'm proud of them."

Source: gryphons.ca

Toronto 0 York 3

The York University Lions men's volleyball team closed the regular season with a straight-sets win over the Toronto Varsity Blues at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Lions had already clinched the second seed in the OUA East Division with a 12-6 record regardless of how Sunday's match finished, and the Blues had already been eliminated from the playoffs.
 
Like the women's team did earlier in the day, the Varsity Blues got off to a strong start, earning three points before the Lions earned their first on a Varsity Blues' service error. Logan Mend followed this up with a service ace to put the Lions just behind at 3-2. The Lions continued to bounce back and forth between leading and trailing. At the technical timeout, they were leading 16-14.
 
The Lions picked up the pace after the timeout and the Varsity Blues could not keep up. The Lions won the first set 25-18.
 
The second set opened with the Varsity Blues leading once again, but like the previous set, this didn't last long. The Lions raced ahead to a seven-point lead by the technical timeout at 16-9 and went on to easily win 25-12.
 
Heading into the third set, the Lions had a 2-0 lead in the match. By the technical timeout, it looked like the Lions were going to make it 3-0 since they were leading once again 16-12. The Varsity Blues put up a tougher fight, but ultimately couldn't surpass the Lions, who claimed the set 25-21 and the match 3-0.
 
Leading the Lions to their victory was Andrew Shotbolt with 18 points (16 kills, one service ace, two assisted blocks), followed by Spencer Dakin Kuiper with 13.5 (seven kills, four solo blocks, four assisted blocks). Tim Jensen led the team in digs with eight followed closely by Shotbolt with seven.
 
On the Varsity Blues' side, Ryan Smith earned the most points at seven, comprised completely of kills. Alex Barnes and Daniel Tudor had the most digs with five apiece.

Source: yorkulions.ca

Queen’s 3 Trent 1

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. (February 25, 2018) – The Queen's Gaels took the win over the Trent Excalibur in a hard fought four set match with a score of 3-1. The scores of each set were 18-25, 25-22, 25-14 and 25-15 in head coach Brenda Willis' final regular season game before retirement. The Gaels will now meet Western in the OUA playoffs next Saturday in London.

GAME FLOW
In the first set of the match, the Gaels got off to a rocky start, unable to find holes in the Excalibur defence. Trent demonstrated their defensive capabilities and capitalized on defensive blocks. The Excalibur ultimately took the first set with a score of 25-18 over the Gaels.

The Gaels found their offensive game in the second set, making 10 kills over the Excalibur and limiting their errors to four. The Tricolour also stepped up their defensive game, Lukas Kaufman (Stratford, Ont.) made several digs to keep the Gaels in the lead. Queen's took the second set with a score of 25-22 and tied the game at 1-1.

In the third set of the game, the Gaels continued their offensive momentum, making 14 kills and no errors. The Tricolour also played a tight defensive game, only allowing the Excalibur to find five kills. Queen's capitalized on every scoring opportunity, winning the set with a score of 25-14.

The fourth and final set of the match was played strongly by Queen's, taking 12 kills and zero errors. The Gaels allowed Trent to make eight kills this set but it wasn't enough for the Excalibur to take the lead. Queen's won the fourth set with a score of 25-15.

16 kills made by Zac Hutchinson (Kingston, Ont.), six kills made by Jack Peckham (Hamilton, Ont.) and five kills made by Markus Trence (Hockley Valley, Ont.) and Mitchell Neuert (Toronto, Ont.) kept the Gaels in the lead over Trent. Aces made by Julian Krygel (Dundas, Ont.) and Mathieu Utting (Ottawa, Ont.) contributed to the Gaels offence and digs made by Kaufman and Zane Grossinger (Richmond Hill, Ont.) kept the Tricolour defence strong.

Source: gogaelsgo.com