W-VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: Gryphs score two big victories
Lakehead Thunderwolves @ Ottawa Gee-Gees
Needing a victory to move into sole possession of second place in the OUA, the Gee-Gees women’s volleyball team battled the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Feb. 2. In front of a full crowd at Montpetit Hall, Ottawa successfully overcame the upset-minded Thunderwolves, who were attempting to play the role of spoiler. After the 3-0 victory, the 12-5 Gee-Gees now have two more points than the third-place Queen’s Gaels.
Prior to the match, a ceremony was held to honour the Gee-Gees’ senior players Laura Carmanico (Stittsville, Ont.), Kathryn Weihrer (Ottawa, Ont.), and Claudia Seguin (St-Pascal Baylon, Ont.). While Weihrer will return for a fifth year and Carmanico has the option to do the same, tonight’s match was the final regular season home match for Seguin.
“They’re three people that really exemplify who the Gee-Gees are. The three of them just keep being an example for everybody on the team, on why we’re doing this and what we’re doing this for,” said Woods.
Carmanico had two big kills in the early goings of the first set, giving uOttawa a 7-3 lead. However, the scrappy Thunderwolves managed to capitalize on several Gee-Gees errors to take a 16-13 advantage at the technical timeout. To the delight of home crowd, the Gee-Gees played much better after the timeout, as Ottawa won the first set 25-20.
The winless Lakehead squad continued to overachieve in the second set, trailing just 12-10 midway through the frame. But once again, the Gee-Gees picked up their game when it mattered most, using a 7-0 run to pull away from their opponents. Weihrer had the final kill of the second set, which the Gee-Gees won 25-16.
“I’m definitely coming back for a fifth year. I can’t imagine my life without it. I’m just so proud and excited to be a part of this team this year,” said Weihrer. “This year has been special and I think we’re going to do something awesome at the end of the season.”
uOttawa put the final touches on a straight-sets victory in the third frame, as Lakehead was unable to keep up with the talented Gee-Gees squad. Second-year M/RS Kelsie English (Orleans, Ont.) was dominant on the blocks, while Seguin had a solid game on the defensive side of the ball. Ottawa ended up winning the final set, 25-16. The win marked the Gee-Gees’ fifth 3-0 sweep victory in their last six matches.
Hamilton, Ont. - The McMaster women's volleyball team continued their extended win streak in the second half of the regular season with a five-set win over the Brock Badgers on Friday night at Burridge Gymnasium. Set scores in favour of the Marauders were 18-25, 25-21, 25-15, 20-25, 15-6.
Up 2-1 in sets, the Badgers forced the fifth set with a 25-20 win. In the fifth, the Marauders dominated, earning their tenth win of the season. With the win, McMaster is currently tied for fourth place in the OUA standings with Toronto. With just two games left in the regular season, the Marauders will look to secure a home playoff game going into the post season.
With a number of Marauders contributing, it was Kailee Stock that had a game-high 20 points with 16 kills, an ace and three blocks. Rookie Lauren Mastroluisi was also a factor in McMaster's win with 13 kills and 12 digs for the Marauders. Shannon McRobert added eight kills and five blocks, libero Meagan Nederveen recorded 16 digs and setter Amanda Weldon earned 42 assists on the night.
For Brock, Rachel Roorda and Lauren Stirling recorded 15 points each, Lucy McLay added 11 more and Jennifer McKenzie earned another 10 points.
The Marauders spend their last weekend of the regular season on the road against some tough competitors, taking on the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday and the division leaders, the York Lions on Sunday afternoon.
Source: Marauders Athletics
The University of Guelph women's volleyball team kept their playoff hopes alive tonight (Feb. 3) with an important 3-0 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues at the W.F. Mitchell Athletic Center.
Set scores were 25-20, 25-14 & 25-16.
The win advances the Gryphons to 7-9, while Toronto falls to 10-5 in OUA standings.
The first set saw the Gryphons start quickly jumping out to an early 7-1 lead and holding it through the technical time out at 16-9. From there, the teams sided out regularly and Toronto could get no closer than four, as Guelph won 25-20.
A fast start again and strong serving in set two, enabled Guelph to keep the pressure on Toronto as they pulled away for a 25-14 win. More pressure serving to start the third set allowed the Gryphons to play from in front the whole way in taking the set and the match at 25-16.
"This was our best match in 3 weeks in terms of executing at a high level over numerous sets,” said Coach Paul Funk. “We also followed our game plan much more closely today than we have in the past and had more variety in attack which helped us tonight."
Brooke Lloyd led the Guelph offense with 17 points (16 kills, 1 block) followed by Erinn Bickle with 13 (11 kills, 1 ace, 1 block) and Devon Jones with 11 (7 kills, 4 aces).
The York University Lions women's volleyball team clinched first place in the OUA East standings on Friday night (Feb. 3) with a straight-sets victory over the Waterloo Warriors at the Physical Activities Complex in Waterloo, Ont.
Sophomore outside hitter Melissa Humana-Paredes (Toronto) continued her strong season with another impressive showing on the court. She led all players with 12 points, earned on 11 kills and one service ace, and added nine digs.
Sheraine Henry (Oakville, Ont.) and Thinesa Sriskandarajah (Scarborough, Ont.) each finished with nine points. Sriskandarajah earned all hers on nine kills and also added 11 digs, while Henry had seven kills, one service ace and one block.
Libero Jennifer Black (London, Ont.) led all players with 17 digs, and setter Tisha Rouse (Brampton, Ont.) also had a game high with 33 assists.
After a close first set that the Lions won by just two points – 25-23 – they turned up the heat and cruised in the final two sets, winning 25-18 and 25-21 for their ninth straight-sets win of the year. The team has dropped just eight sets all season, 10 fewer than any other team in the league.
Laura Klein was Waterloo's top player on the night with 12 points, including 11 kills and one service ace, and seven digs, both team highs.
The loss dropped the Warriors to 6-10 on the year and they are tied for ninth place in the OUA standings, just two points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.
They will return home next weekend for their final two games of the regular season. Up first is a game against the Ryerson Rams on Saturday (Feb. 11) at 2pm, followed by a contest against the McMaster Marauders in the finale on Sunday (Feb. 12) at 12pm. They will also be at the Tait McKenzie Centre the following Saturday (Feb. 18) for an OUA quarter-final contest against the eighth seed in the standings. The time of that match has yet to be determined.
Source: Lions Athletics
KINGSTON, Ont. (February 4, 2012)- The Gaels (12-5) persevered through a lengthy third set against the Western Mustangs (7-10) to extend their recent win streak to four games.
The Gaels were able to harness the momentum from their gritty win in the third set going into the fourth, winning the game with set scores of 25-12, 22-25, 36-34, 25-21.
Becky Billings of Ottawa seemed to find all the gaps in the Mustangs defence, registering 15 kills. She was joined by veterans Natalie Gray of Oshawa, Ont. and Kelsey Bishop of North Vancouver, B.C. in the double digit kill count, who posted 10 and 11 kills respectively.
Setter Anna Pedjase of Waterloo, Ont. had a spectacular performance on the court today, particularly from the service line. On top of her team high 39 assists, Pedjase would also contribute offensively with two kills, plus a productive eight service aces.
Billings also led her team defensively with 13 digs and three solo blocks on the night for the Gaels.
Stephanie Kantzos of London Ont. had 21 digs for the Mustangs, but ultimately the Gaels driving offense would overwhelm all defensive efforts.
On Saturday afternoon, the Lancers fought a tought battle to the host Paladins. Windsor came away with a first set 25-22 win with some solid plays at the end of set.
From there, the two teams traded points through the next three sets with the Paladins edging the Lancers right at the end.
Kaila Seguin had 16 kills and 21 points in the loss.
Source: Lancers Athletics
The University of Guelph women's volleyball team scored a big comeback 3-2 victory over the first place York Lions tonight at the W.F. Mitchell Athletic Center. Set scores were 21-25, 13-25, 25-22, 25-22 & 15-11.
The first set featured the teams trading side outs until 13 all before a 4 point run allowed York to build a lead that they wouldn't relinquish winning 25-21. The Gryphons had a terrible start to set 2 with York building an 10-2 lead from tough serving. York continued to put on the pressure leading at one point 18-6 before finishing with a 25-13 win. Guelph had another rough start to the third set going down 5-2, but a couple of substitutions seemed to give the Gryphons a different energy as they clawed their way back into the set and took the lead at the technical time out. York was not about to give up thoughts of a sweep as they fought back to take a 21-20 lead. From there, Guelph found another burst of energy to forge ahead and take the set 25-22. Set 4 was tight with the Gryphons leading 16-14 at the technical time out, but a small run allowed them to build a 5 point lead which was held for the win at 25-22. The deciding set was an intense battle with both teams fighting hard. Guelph led at the switch over 8-6 and expanded their lead to 14-8 before York earned a couple of points to close the gap. The Gryphons comeback was completed when a York serve at 14-11 sailed long for a final of 15-11.
"Our team was desperate tonight and dug deep after a disastrous 2nd set. A lot of credit goes to Alicia and Mackenzie who came off the bench and provided some good energy and play to turn the match around. That combined with a raucous energy provided by our football team seemed to inspire our girls to keep fighting and it was great that Erinn, Brooke and Megan got an exciting win on their last home game," stated head coach Paul Funk.
Guelph's offense was led by Kaitlyn Krizmanich with 16 points (14 kills, 1 ace, 1 block) followed by Brooke Lloyd with 15 (13 kills, 1 ace, 1 block) and Erinn Bickle with 11 (8 kills, 1 ace, 1 block).
The Gryphons now wait for their final match of the season next Sunday at Brock at 1pm which could decide a playoff berth.
The Waterloo women's volleyball team kept their playoff hopes alive with a straight set victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Saturday night in Waterloo. Waterloo controlled the match from start to finish winning the sets by scores of 25-19, 25-17, 25-19.
The win propelled the Warriors into a tie for the eighth and final playoff spot with RMC at 14 points, but the Paladins have two games and hand and hold the tie-breaker.
Leading the attack was a pair of outside hitters as Laura Klein (Kitchener) and Oksana Kozak (Mississauga) gathered eight kills each. Klein added three service aces and four blocks to round out another strong performance offensively, while also producing on the defensive side of the ball with 14 digs. Alice Li (Toronto) also had a strong defensive match with 12 digs, many of those coming in a third set where she made several athletic plays to keep her team ahead.
For the second straight night Kayla Ng (London) was on her game setting up her teammates 17 times while adding an impressive 12 digs.
Jorie Daymond led all Lakehead players with eight kills and 11 digs while Michelle Cournoyer chipped in with six kills and one block. Setter Sara Hudson tallied 13 assists in the loss.
The Warriors, who will need some help from other teams to slip into the playoffs, take to the court next weekend in their final match of the season against the Brock Badgers on Friday. Game time is set for 7pm.
Source: Warriors Athletics
KINGSTON, Ont. (February 5, 2012) - The Queen's Gaels (13-5) capped off their regular season in fine fashion Sunday with a straight sets win (25-15, 25-16, 25-17) over the visiting Windsor Lancers (3-15).
The Gaels offensive surge was executed on the afternoon by veterans Natalie Gray of Oshawa, Ont. and Becky Billings of Ottawa's efforts. Gray led the Gaels with 11 kills and eight digs while Billings swung home nine kills of her own in addition to freezing the Lancer defence with four service aces.
Kelsey Bishop of North Vancouver, B.C. was also in good form, registering 10 kills and nine digs. Bishop will be an offensive cornerstone for the Gaels moving forward into the playoffs.
The Lancers were led by middle Ana Vrcelj of Windsor, Ont., who's five kills marked a team high. The Lancers rounded out their season with a 3-15 record.
After their three set sweep of the Windsor Lancers, the Gaels honoured veteran players Billings and Gray for their dedication and effort to the women's volleyball program over their careers. After winning their final regular season game in a Gael uniform, both athletes can now look forward to representing the Gaels in the post-season, as today's win cemented a home-gym advantage in the playoffs.
The Gaels will defend their home court in the playoffs on Febuary 18.
KINGSTON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs women’s volleyball team completed their last regular season road trip on a high note this afternoon defeating the RMC Paladins in five sets.
Set scores were 25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 21-25 and 15-12.
The Mustangs took set one with a score of 25-22 while the Paladins took the second with the same score.
Western scraped by to win the third 25-23 before faltering in the fourth when RMC came out ahead.
The fifth and deciding set went to the Mustangs15-12.
Stephanie Kreuter had a game high of 20 points (16 kills, 2 aces, 9 digs) for the Mustangs.
Paladin Melissa McCoy finished the night with 18 points (15 kills, 1 ace, 11 digs).
The Mustangs complete the regular season with eight wins and 10 losses.
Playoff seeding will be determined after matches being played next weekend.
Source: Mustangs Athletics
Down two sets to one, and trailing 20-18 in the fourth set, it sure seemed like the Gee-Gees were about to suffer a crucial defeat at the hands of the Toronto Varsity Blues. But the Gee-Gees women’s volleyball team proved to be a resilient bunch, using a 7-1 run to capture the fourth set. Ottawa’s momentum could not be stopped on Feb. 5, as the Gee-Gees also won the fifth and deciding set of the match. uOttawa has now finished their OUA regular season schedule, and have clinched the second seed in the province along with a first-round home playoff game.
Despite committing two less errors than the Varsity Blues, the Gee-Gees ended up on the losing side of a closely-contested first set that ended 26-24. Second-year LS/RS Karina Krueger Schwanke (Blumenau, Brazil) led the Gee-Gees’ charge with 16 kills and eight digs.
The two former divisional rivals split the next two sets, as the Gee-Gees won 25-21 in the second, while Toronto won the third set by the same score. As usual, the Gee-Gees were the better team in serving and blocking—Ottawa had eight more service aces and nine more blocks than their opponents on Feb. 5. Third-year setter Christina Grail (London, Ont.) led all players with six aces, while second-year M/RS Kelsie English (Orleans, Ont.) had 6.5 blocks.
Then came the Gee-Gees’ amazing comeback effort in the fourth set. Toronto was unable to recover from the defeat, and lost the final set as well. Though Ottawa and Queen’s finished with identical 13-5 records, the Gee-Gees captured the second seed due to a tiebreaker.
The Gee-Gees will now host an OUA quarterfinal playoff game on Feb. 18 at Montpetit Hall. Ottawa’s opponent will be decided by next weekend.
TORONTO- The Ryerson Rams women's volleyball teams' push for a playoff spot took a huge blow on Sunday afternoon in their final home game at Kerr Hall Gym. Jorie Daymond tallied a team-high 16 kills and the Lakehead Thunderwolves broke their season-long drought by tallying their first victory of the 2011-12 campaign, dropping the Rams 3-1 (25-18, 27-29, 25-14, 25-22).
The Rams jumped out to a 6-3 lead early in the first, but after the Thunderwolves cut the advantage to two, the women committed five-straight errors, allowing Lakehead to go ahead 12-9. An ace from Sara Hudson spread the lead to five, and the visitors took a 16-11 lead into the technical break.
The women looked out of sorts coming out of the timeout, allowing Lakehead to add two more before Ryerson got on the board. Reid took a timeout with the score 20-14 for the Thunderwolves, but the Rams still struggled to find their rhythm.
Emily Varga (Rodney, Ont.) was subbed in to serve, and picked up an ace to try and bring her team back in the set, and Alex Whyte (Whitby, Ont.) found the back-court with a volley, but a block from Vanessa Masters was followed by a kill from Michelle Cournoyer to give Lakehead the first set.
Chelsea Briscoe (Georgetown, Ont.) picked up a block on the first point of the second, but three aces from Daymond sparked Lakehead on a 5-0 run. Ryanne Hollies (Calgary, Alta.) answered with an ace of her own, and a kill from Jensen (Georgetown) brought the Rams within one. An error from Lakehead evened the match at 10-10.
The squads traded points, with the Thunderwolves taking a slight advantage, going up 16-14 at the technical. An ace from Emily Nicholishen (Whitby) tied things up at 17-17, but Lakehead was able to re-gain a two-point lead soon after on two more errors from Ryerson.
But the women fought back, and a block from Hollies evened the set again. Briscoe followed that with a kill to put the home team ahead. A big ace from Varga extended the lead, but Lakehead notched three straight to move ahead once again.
With the Thunderwolves up 24-22, Ryerson managed to save both set points to tie the set. Carli Yim (Markham, Ont.) made a clutch dig after Lakehead went up again, and the Rams kept the set alive once more.
Ryerson could not convert on two set point opportunities, but gave themselves a third on a kill from Jensen. The women finally made good, as a kill from Hollies evened the match 1-1.
Lakehead owned the third set, and started by taking a 10-5 lead early. Ryerson committed nine errors in the first half of the set, and the Thunderwolves notched five straight to take a commanding 16-7 lead at the technical. They would streak for another four points before a serve error finally gave the Rams a point.
Ryerson went on a 4-0 run, but the damage was already done at that point, as the Thunderwolves went up 2-1 in the match.
The women found some energy and a much better start in the fourth, going up 5-2. But they would lose five of the next six points. Jensen tallied two monster kills to keep the Rams in front. Daymond tallied a kill and Lakehead got hot, streaking to take five of the next six points and a 16-14 lead at the technical.
Whyte came up big, tallying a kill and ace to even the match, and the Rams went ahead after an error from the Thunderwolves. However, it was short-lived as Lakehead tallied three-straight to go up 21-19.
After Ryerson cut it to one, Varga was brought into the match once again, and notched another key ace to even the set 22-22. But two more errors from the women gave Lakehead a match point, and they made good, recording an ace to get in the win column for the first time this season.
The Rams are on the road for their final two games of the season. They head to York for a match with the first-place Lions next Saturday at 2:00 p.m., and will close out the season against the Toronto Varsity Blues the following day at 3:00 p.m.
Source: Rams Athletics
