OUA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
HAMILTON, Ont. – Four women’s volleyball teams in Ontario University Athletics (OUA) will congregate in Ottawa this weekend to fight for the OUA women’s volleyball banner, presented by Mikasa Sports Canada. The OUA Final Four women’s volleyball championship will take place at Montpetit Hall from February 25-26. Although originally set to take place at York University, the Final Four will now be played at the University of Ottawa, as the Ottawa Gee-Gees host the Queen’s Gaels, the Toronto Varsity Blues and the RMC Paladins.
The York Lions were set to host the OUA Championship, but due to a sanction brought on by an ineligible player, the tournament will now be played at uOttawa. Based on the overturn of the quarter-final result, the RMC Paladins take York’s place at the Final Four. For full release, click here.
The re-tooled schedule now features afternoon games, and pits the Gee-Gees against the RMC Paladins on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Gee-Gees not only boast home court advantage, but OUA First-Team All-Star Karina Krueger-Schwanke (Blumenau, Brazil). Krueger-Schwanke led the league in service aces (48) and tallied 228 points, good for fifth in OUA. Second-Team All-Star Myriam English (Orleans, Ont.) will also be a significant point producer for the Gee-Gees, as she registered 36 service aces and 217 points this season. No doubt that Second-Team All-Star setter Christina Grail (London, Ont.) will target these two heavy hitters.
The RMC Paladins finished the regular season in eighth place, and enter the Championship as the fourth-seed underdog. Though they will have their work cut out for them, the feisty Paladins were only narrowly defeated by the Gee-Gees three sets to two in October. RMC will rely on Melissa McCoy’s (Kingston, Ont.) presence at the net. The middle blocker and Second-Team All-Star scored 215 points and made 39 blocks, earning an impressive 0.304 kill percentage.
The first action of the Final Four gets underway at 12 p.m. on Saturday with the Queen’s Gaels squaring off against the Toronto Varsity Blues. The Gaels and Blues have split games this season. Early in league play, Queen’s hosted Toronto and won in straight sets. Shorty thereafter, the Blues defeated Queen’s 3-1 at the Toronto National Invitational tournament. Monpetit Hall will serve as the equalizer and this matchup promises to be a close game.
The Queen’s Gaels finished the season in third place, and are riding a five game win streak into the Final Four. Natalie Gray (Oshawa, Ont.) has been a force for the Gaels all season long. The fourth-year outside hitter earned the most votes to claim top spot on the First-Team. She the Gaels with 224.5 points, notching 201 kills and 12 service aces, and finished second in OUA in total kills and fifth in points per game (3.62). Fellow All-Star Becky Billings (Ottawa) balances out Gray’s offensive prowess with her strong defensive play. Billings led the Gaels in digs; posting 232 ups in 18 regular season games.
The Varsity Blues completed the season in slightly scrappier fashion, posting an 11-7 record. Though they caused an upset in the quarter-final, their presence at the championship shouldn’t come as a surprise as the Blues have competed in 22 of the past 23 Final Four tournaments. Second-year standout and First-Team All-Star Charlotte Sider (Ottawa) averaged 3.05 kills per set during the regular season, and will have to perform on Saturday should the Blues wish to advance to the gold medal match. Setter Malena Rapaport (Vancouver, B.C.) finished fourth in the league in assists per game with 548. With York’s absence, and defending champion Western out, the Blues are the most recent team in contention to taste OUA volleyball victory.
Winners of Saturday’s semifinal matches will meet on Sunday at 3 p.m., when a new OUA women’s volleyball champion will be declared. Losers of the semifinals will meet in the bronze medal match, to be played on Sunday at noon.
Stay tuned to oua.ca for full championship coverage.
OUA Final Four women's volleyball championship
Day one - Semifinals
12 p.m. - Game one - Queen's Gaels vs. Toronto Varsity Blues
3 p.m. - Game two - Ottawa Gee-Gees vs. RMC Paladins
Day two - Bronze & Gold medal games
12 p.m. - Loser of game one vs. Loser of game two
3 p.m. - Winner of game one vs. Winner of game two
