January 28, 2008
MCMASTER AND QUEEN'S EARN BIG WINS ON THE SEASON
Queen's 3, York 1
The Queen's Golden Gaels gained a huge win in their pursuit for a playoff spot as they defeated the visiting York Lions in four sets Saturday night in Kingston. The Gaels with the victory and Ryerson's 3-1 win at Windsor have moved into a tie with the Rams for the OUA East division's final postseason berth.
In the opening set the Gaels received some strong serving from Colleen Ogilivie of Calgary. With the score 9-8 Queen's, Ogilvie served back to back aces and a service winner to make the score 11-8 and force a York timeout. The Lions closed to two points late in the set at 23-21 but Natasha Khan of Scarborough, Ont. served into the net and the Gaels finished things off when Lorna Button of Newcastle, Ont. blasted her kill off the York block and out for a 25-21 win.
York's Khan made up for her service error with some big serves early in the second set. The Lions led 6-6 when Khan proceeded to serve five straight points including two aces and York built the lead to 16-10 by the second technical timeout. Queen's closed the deficit with Lisa Cooke of Sydenham, Ont. serving and got to within two at 17-15. When Jenna Willis of Kingston blocked a York kill attempt the Gaels had tied the set at 19. York was able to get the lead back to two at 23-21 and when Ogilvie served for Queen's the visitors had tied the match at a set apiece.
In the third set the young Gaels took a 14-11 serve on a kill by Button. York came back and eventually tied the set at 20 but Elyssa Heller of Highland Park, IL tipped a ball past a Lions block and then made consecutive stuff blocks of York hitters to put Queen's up 23-21. The Gaels subbed in a new server in Sarah Fetterly of Ottawa and her first serve ended in a Tricolour point when Heller made a third straight block. Fittingly Heller ended the set in Queen's favour at 25-23 on a kill that eluded all the Lions on the floor.
The fourth set would see York come out strong and build a 12-7 lead forcing the Gaels to take a timeout. After the timeout the Gaels took the serve back and proceeded to run off five straight points to lead 13-12, punctuated by a great save by Hamill that eventually resulted in a York error. At 19-18 for Queen's after a Button kill, Heller and Button again both pounded spikes for points and a 22-18 lead. York narrowed the gap to 23-21 but on a rally that lasted 40 seconds Button put a kill off the York block for a point and when York's Chelsea Thomas of Port Colborne, Ont. put a kill attempt the Gaels had the match win.
The Gaels had four players with double digit kills, led by Button with 14; Heller had 12, Hamill 11, and Ogilvie 10 with Ellen Gray of Toronto adding 40 assists. The victory improves Queen's to 5-9 for 10 points tied with Ryerson for fourth but the Gaels have two games in hand.
McMaster 3, Guelph 0
The McMaster Marauder women's volleyball team is afforded some comfort heading down the final stretch of the regular season. With a commanding 3-0 win over the Guelph Gryphons on Friday, McMaster moves into sole possession of first place in the OUA West with a 12-3 record.
As winners of nine of their last ten conference games, the sizzling Marauders will welcome the familiar confines of the Burridge Gymnasium to host their next three games.
Guelph's season record falls to 5-10 with their second shutout loss to the Marauders.
For the second straight match Kaila Janssen (Whitby, ON) recorded double-digits in three statistical categories. This time around she paced all competitors with 13 digs to go along with 11 kills and 11 points for the Marauders.
Three of her teammates also continued to perform at a high level that has become synonymous with McMaster wins. Heidi Bench (St. Catharines, ON) led all offense with 12 kills and 13 points. Jennifer Holt (Hamilton, ON) sits on the verge of eclipsing 500 assists on the season after tallying a game-high 39 on Friday; she now sits second in the OUA with 499. She also added 9 digs. Sarah Masterton (Pickering, ON) provided a third prong in the lethal Marauder attack with 8 kills and 10 points.
Kendall Milne and Alexandra Taylor who each had 5 kills and 5 points led the Gryphons offensively. Milne and Heather Lawrence notched 6 digs apiece to back up a defense led by Jenny Vance's 7 digs.
The Queen's Golden Gaels gained a huge win in their pursuit for a playoff spot as they defeated the visiting York Lions in four sets Saturday night in Kingston. The Gaels with the victory and Ryerson's 3-1 win at Windsor have moved into a tie with the Rams for the OUA East division's final postseason berth.
In the opening set the Gaels received some strong serving from Colleen Ogilivie of Calgary. With the score 9-8 Queen's, Ogilvie served back to back aces and a service winner to make the score 11-8 and force a York timeout. The Lions closed to two points late in the set at 23-21 but Natasha Khan of Scarborough, Ont. served into the net and the Gaels finished things off when Lorna Button of Newcastle, Ont. blasted her kill off the York block and out for a 25-21 win.
York's Khan made up for her service error with some big serves early in the second set. The Lions led 6-6 when Khan proceeded to serve five straight points including two aces and York built the lead to 16-10 by the second technical timeout. Queen's closed the deficit with Lisa Cooke of Sydenham, Ont. serving and got to within two at 17-15. When Jenna Willis of Kingston blocked a York kill attempt the Gaels had tied the set at 19. York was able to get the lead back to two at 23-21 and when Ogilvie served for Queen's the visitors had tied the match at a set apiece.
In the third set the young Gaels took a 14-11 serve on a kill by Button. York came back and eventually tied the set at 20 but Elyssa Heller of Highland Park, IL tipped a ball past a Lions block and then made consecutive stuff blocks of York hitters to put Queen's up 23-21. The Gaels subbed in a new server in Sarah Fetterly of Ottawa and her first serve ended in a Tricolour point when Heller made a third straight block. Fittingly Heller ended the set in Queen's favour at 25-23 on a kill that eluded all the Lions on the floor.
The fourth set would see York come out strong and build a 12-7 lead forcing the Gaels to take a timeout. After the timeout the Gaels took the serve back and proceeded to run off five straight points to lead 13-12, punctuated by a great save by Hamill that eventually resulted in a York error. At 19-18 for Queen's after a Button kill, Heller and Button again both pounded spikes for points and a 22-18 lead. York narrowed the gap to 23-21 but on a rally that lasted 40 seconds Button put a kill off the York block for a point and when York's Chelsea Thomas of Port Colborne, Ont. put a kill attempt the Gaels had the match win.
The Gaels had four players with double digit kills, led by Button with 14; Heller had 12, Hamill 11, and Ogilvie 10 with Ellen Gray of Toronto adding 40 assists. The victory improves Queen's to 5-9 for 10 points tied with Ryerson for fourth but the Gaels have two games in hand.
McMaster 3, Guelph 0
The McMaster Marauder women's volleyball team is afforded some comfort heading down the final stretch of the regular season. With a commanding 3-0 win over the Guelph Gryphons on Friday, McMaster moves into sole possession of first place in the OUA West with a 12-3 record.
As winners of nine of their last ten conference games, the sizzling Marauders will welcome the familiar confines of the Burridge Gymnasium to host their next three games.
Guelph's season record falls to 5-10 with their second shutout loss to the Marauders.
For the second straight match Kaila Janssen (Whitby, ON) recorded double-digits in three statistical categories. This time around she paced all competitors with 13 digs to go along with 11 kills and 11 points for the Marauders.
Three of her teammates also continued to perform at a high level that has become synonymous with McMaster wins. Heidi Bench (St. Catharines, ON) led all offense with 12 kills and 13 points. Jennifer Holt (Hamilton, ON) sits on the verge of eclipsing 500 assists on the season after tallying a game-high 39 on Friday; she now sits second in the OUA with 499. She also added 9 digs. Sarah Masterton (Pickering, ON) provided a third prong in the lethal Marauder attack with 8 kills and 10 points.
Kendall Milne and Alexandra Taylor who each had 5 kills and 5 points led the Gryphons offensively. Milne and Heather Lawrence notched 6 digs apiece to back up a defense led by Jenny Vance's 7 digs.
