W-VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: Gee-Gees hand defending champion Marauders first loss
Friday, October 24
York 3 @ Waterloo 0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-14)
The Waterloo Warriors women's volleyball team was taking on a strong York Lions squad on Friday night. The game was hosted at RIM Park in front of a nearly sold out crowd. York's offence was nearly unstoppable as they won in straight sets (25-11, 25-17, 25-14).
The Warriors, who were looking to capitalize on last week's straight sets victory over RMC, came out flat and momentum shifted to the Lions early. York opened the match scoring the first 11 straight points and wouldn't look back. Both teams would trade points before York took a 16-4 lead into the technical timeout.
Roselyn Zhang (Toronto) and Kayla Wierts (Drayton) were back from injury and provided an offensive spark late in the set, but it was too-little, too-late as the black and gold dropped the first set 25-11.
In the 2nd set, there was a more balanced attack from both squads as teams went on runs of their own. The Warriors were down 10-9 when they lost 6 of the next 7 points to go down 16-10 heading into the timeout. Both sides would exchange points before Waterloo used a timeout at 20-14 for York. York would hang on for the 2nd set victory 25-17 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
York's relentless offence and tough serves continued in the 3rd set which made it difficult for Waterloo's passers to establish a rhythm and run some offence. The Lions would take an early 11-4 lead and force the Warriors into a timeout. York would hang on for a 25-14 victory to clinch the sweep over the Warriors 'at home'.
Kayla Wierts (Drayton) had a strong return for the Warriors with 5 kills while Casey Clunas (Harriston) had 3 kills and 8 digs in the match. Emily Needles (Thorndale) collected 19 assists on the night while Sarah Remedios (Ajax), Shannon Lodoen (Waterloo), and Sammie Gwozdz (Waterloo) all had 3 kills for the Warriors.
York's offence was led by Michelle Pierce who had 8 kills and 6 block assists, Abby Ganzhorn who had 7 kills and 2 block assists, while Kirsten Dillon also picked up 19 assists.
The Warriors will be back in action tomorrow night as they play host to the 1-1 Nipissing Lakers at 6pm at RIM Park.
Source: Waterloo Warriors
Windsor 0 @ Queens 3 (25-20, 26-24, 25-17)
KINGSTON, Ont. (October 24, 2014) - Queen's women's volleyball team started their first season under head coach Michael Ling on the right foot, Sweeping the Windsor Lancers 25-20, 26-24, 25-17 at the ARC on Friday night.
After Windsor battled back to take a 16-14 lead at the first set technical timeout, the Gaels scored six straight points on strong serving from Brett Hagarty (Aurora, Ont.) to retake the lead en route to winning the first set 25-20.
The Gaels came out strong again in the second set, going riding an 8-1 run to a 12-3 lead. But the Lancers wouldn't give up, storming back to tie the game 12-12. Solid serving on from Windsor held them in the match, clawing their way back from 24-22 to tie the set at 24-24 on clutch serves from strategic substitute Melissa Smyth. Queen's was not to be denied, however, regaining their composure to take a 2-0 lead on a 26-24 win in the second set.
With the match on the line, Queen's dominated the third set, jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead, forcing Lancers head coach Lucas Hodgson to blow an early timeout. Nothing could stop the Gaels from downing Windsor in straight sets, as they went on to win 25-17 in the third set to win the match 3-0.
Shannon Neville (Cambridge, Ont) threw down a game-high 12 kills for the Gaels in the victory, while Brett and Katie Hagarty (Aurora, Ont.) chipped in with eight kills each. Libero Becky Wilson (Pickering, Ont.) recorded the most digs for Queen's with 20.
On Windsor's side of the net, Hannah Robson played well early in the match to pick up 12 digs and a team-high seven kills. Emily Durand made a game-high 23 digs, as the Lancers tried to slow the Gaels attack.
Queen's (1-0) hosts Western on Saturday at 6pm in the ARC in their next match.
Source: Queen's Gaels
Nipissing 0 @ Guelph 3 (25-8, 27-25, & 25-7)
Guelph, Ont. - The University of Guelph women's volleyball team had a successful home opener as they swept the Nipissing Lakers 3-0 at the W.F. Athletic Center on Friday evening. Set scores were 25-8, 27-25, & 25-7. The Gryphons got off to a great start in the first set as Jen Johnstone's (North Vancouver, BC) eight point serving run opened up a big lead that they never relinquished winning 25-8. Set two was a much different affair as Nipissing took an early 12-8 lead. Guelph battled back to lead 16-15 at the technical timeout but the Lakers would not back down reclaiming the lead at 21-18. The Gryphons were on the ropes late but they fought off three set points to eventually come back to win 27-25. The third set returned to the original script as numerous Nipissing errors allowed Guelph to win handily at 25-7.
Coach Funk said, "We wanted to come out strong tonight to try and dominate early which we did with some help from the opposition. The second set was more of what we were expecting from Nipissing and we were fortunate to win after being down late. Tomorrow's match against York will require us to be more consistent in our execution but we're looking forward to the challenge."
The Gryphon offense was led by Madison Dedecker (Dorchester, Ont.) with 15 points (12 kills, 3 aces) followed by Rebecca Breau (London, Ont.) with 10 (10 kills) while Kristen Almhjell (Richmond, B.C.) led the defense with 14 digs.
Guelph is right back at it tomorrow night when they host the York Lions at 6pm.
Source: Guelph Gryphons
Western 3 @ RMC 2
KINGSTON, Ont. – After five sets of rigorous and closely matched play, the Western Mustangs women's volleyball team came back from a two set deficit to secure their first win of the season over the RMC Paladins on Friday night at the Kingston Military Community Sports Centre.
With the win, the Mustangs hold a 1-1 season record, with the Paladins at 0-2.
Taking an early lead, the Paladins used relentless defence and carefully placed offensive shots, resulting in 16 kills, to secure the first set after lengthy rallies, ending with a 25-22 score in favour of the home team.
Riding the momentum from the first set, RMC continued to exploit Mustang errors while avoiding unforced errors of their own. Using serving accuracy and tight defensive play, the Paladins again secured the second set by a close 25-23 score.
Fighting to continue the match, the Mustangs came out in full force during the third set. Battling against tough attacks, Western focused on offensive play to pull ahead. With 14 kills in the frame, the Mustangs won the set 25-23.
The Mustangs began the fourth set refreshed and with momentum on their side. Adjusting to the Paladins play and playing with increased accuracy, the Mustangs took another close set, winning 25-23 to send the match to a fifth set.
Headed into the decisive fifth set, the Mustangs focused on defence and serving consistency to bring the final score to 15-10. Unwilling to allow defeat, Western pushed through the RMC blocks and quickly responded to the frequent attacks to complete the comeback and close out the set with a win.
Third year RMC student Nicole Behnke was the high scorer of the match, securing 24.5 points from 23 kills, one solo block and one assisted block. Delanie Chang followed closely with 23 points from 19 kills and four service aces.
Rookie Kelsey Veltman topped the Mustang score sheet with 15 points, from ten kills, four solo blocks, and one service ace, with veteran Serena Smith recording 14 points from 13 kills and one service ace. Meanwhile, first year libero Courtney Sestric recorded 29 digs throughout the match to lead the purple and white defence.
The Mustangs return to the court on Saturday, October 25, as they take on the Queen's Gaels at 6 p.m. in Kingston.
Source: Western Mustangs
McMaster 0 @ Ottawa 3
The Gee-Gees (1-2) women volleyball team made a much needed comeback on Saturday when they hosted their long-time rivals the McMaster Marauders (2-1). After two losses in a row last weekend against York and Nipissing the Gees-Gees were able to redeem confidence for the season ahead with a straight set sweep.
"All we did this weekend was talk about what our challenges are and how to get back to who we are and we did that today," said Gee-Gees head coach Lionel Woods.
McMaster had the upper hand at the beginning of the first set leading three points thanks to a few good kills by Joanna Jedrezjewska who recorded a total of 12.5 points in the match. After some back and forth action the Gee-Gees were able to settle in and catch up to their opponents. A great hit by right sider Kelsie English had the Gee-Gees up by two at 14-12 in the first set.
The Marauders tried to regain the lead in a back and forth rally that ended with a hard hit by Jedrzejewska putting the 19th point on the board for McMaster. The momentum kept going for the Gee-Gees ending the first set 25-19 in their favour.
"It was an early battle and we stayed solid and that's the game of volleyball," said Woods, "It's a game of momentum and we played very consistently today."
The second set started off with an early lead for the Gee-Gees after a few blocks and great defensive play. After two kills by right side Kelsie English and a bad serve by McMaster, the Gee-Gees held a four-point lead. In the end of the second set the score was 25-16 for the Gee-Gees.
"I feel like we needed this. We came into practice with the mindset that we're underdogs from now on because of our two losses," said Kelsie English.
In the third set Ottawa gained even more confidence, pushing to an eight point lead at the technical time out. Left side Myriam English tallied a total of 17.5 points during the game including five kills in the third set to help the Gee-Gees win a 25-18 final score.
Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees
Windsor 3 @ RMC 0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-17)
Kingston, ON – The Lancer women's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (20-25, 24-26, 17-25) loss to the Queen's Gaels on Friday night before rebounding on Saturday to defeat the RMC Paladins 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-17).
Against Queen's, Windsor battled back to take a 16-14 lead at the first set technical timeout. The Gaels then scored six straight points on strong serving from Brett Hagarty to retake the lead en route to winning the first set 25-20.
The Gaels came out strong again in the second set, going on an 8-1 run for a 12-3 lead. But the Lancers wouldn't give up, storming back to tie the game 12-12. Solid serving from Windsor held them in the match, clawing their way back from 24-22 to tie the set at 24-24 on clutch serves from strategic substitute Melissa Smyth. Queen's was not to be denied, however, However, Queen's seemed to regain their composure to take a 2-0 lead on a 26-24 win in the second set.
Queen's dominated the third set, jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead, forcing Lancers head coach Lucas Hodgson to call an early timeout. The Lancers were unable to get back into the set as Queen's went on to win 25-17 in the third set to win the match 3-0.
Hannah Robson played well early in the match to pick up 12 digs and a team-high seven kills. Emily Durand made a game-high 23 digs, as the Lancers tried to slow the Gaels attack.
Against the Paladins, rookie Richelle Brown led the Lancers with 15 kills and 11 digs. Robson had another standout performance with 11 kills and 12 digs for 15 points.
The Lancers will play their first regular season home game next Friday night when they host the Guelph Gryphons on Halloween at 6:00pm at the St. Denis Centre.
The Gee-Gees will next travel to Kingston October 8-9 to face RMC and Queen's.
Source: Windsor Lancers
Nipissing 3 @ Waterloo 1 (21-25, 25-11, 21-25, 21-25)
The Warriors women's volleyball team was hosting their second game in two nights as they welcomed the Nipissing Lakers to RIM Park. Waterloo fell 3-1 (21-25, 25-11, 21-25, 21-25) after making team errors and being unable to capitalize on free possessions.
In the opening set, Waterloo was looking to avenge a 3-0 loss to York the night previous. Neither team could establish an offensive rhythm early and it seemed like a game in that whichever team made the fewest mistakes came out on top. Waterloo had 6 kills in the opening set to Nipissing's 14 which was the difference as Waterloo dropped the 1st set 25-21.
The 2nd set was a much different story as the Warriors would jump out to an early 10-7 lead, capitalizing off some solid decision-making by setter Emily Needles (Thorndale). Waterloo forced Nipissing into a timeout at 11-7 but it did not seem to faze Waterloo. Waterloo had a solid .269 attacking percentage en route to even the match at 1 after a commanding 25-11 victory.
The celebrations were short lived, however, as both teams would finally settle into the game and exchange short runs before the Lakers took a 16-12 lead at the technical timeout. Waterloo would take a timeout at 18-13 but it was too-little, too-late as Waterloo eventually fell 25-21 to fall to 1-2 on the match.
In the fourth and potentially deciding set, Nipissing seemed determined to close out the match. Long rallies turned the match into a war of attrition and seeing who could outlast the other. Warriors jumped out to an early 15-11 lead but forfeited 4 straight points to knot the game at 15. Poor passing from both sides made it difficult to run a smooth offence and this ultimately benefitted the Lakers. Waterloo would take a timeout down 20-18 to try and rally but it was not meant to be. The black and gold would eventually lose by a familiar score of 25-21 to lose the match 3-1 to a strong Lakers squad.
Waterloo moves to 1-2 and will hit the road next weekend and play Western on Friday and Windsor on Saturday. Warriors will return home on Saturday, November 8 to host the Queen's Gaels at 6pm at the PAC.
Standouts for the Warriors were Natasha Spaling (Drayton) and Kayla Wierts (Drayton) who each had 11 kills. Spaling added 4 assisted blacks and 3 service aces while Wierts added 15 digs. Emily Needles (Thorndale) had 34 assists in a losing battle. Kristen Bartmann (Uxbridge) was strong on defence collecting a team high 21 digs in the loss.
Source: Waterloo Warriors
York 3 @ Guelph 0 (17-25, 20-25 & 23-25)
Guelph, Ont. - The University of Guelph women's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to the York Lions tonight at the W.F. Mitchell Athletic Center. Set scores were 17-25, 20-25 & 23-25. The first set started with both teams battling early but a 5-1 run enabled York to lead 16-9 at the technical timeout. Guelph was never able to close the gap as the Lions took the set 25-17. Set 2 started out close with the Gryphons forging ahead 15-11 in the middle of the set. Down the stretch, York executed better as they came back to win the set 25-20. The third set started out close again but York managed to lead 16-12 at the technical timeout. Guelph closed to within 1 point a number of times but were never able to lead and dropped the set 25-23.
Coach Funk stated, "We competed well at times tonight but a couple of bad runs in the first two sets cost us and we were never able to handle the athleticism of their middle blockers which really made a big difference." Maddie DeDecker led the Guelph offense with 8 points (7 kills, 1 ace) and chipped in 10 digs followed by Becky Breau with 7 (6 kills, 1 block). The Gryphons hit the road next weekend to face the Windsor Lancers on Friday at 6pm.
Source: Guelph Gryphons
Western 2 @ Queen's 3 (25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 15-25, 15-12)
KINGSTON, Ont. (October 25, 2014) - It took the full five sets, but the Gaels dropped Western 3-2 on Saturday night at the ARC, 25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 15-25, 15-12.
The teams traded sets in the match, with Queen's winning all of the odd numbered sets. Niki Slikboer (Seagrave, Ont.) got her strong blocking game going early in the match, winning the first set for the Gaels with a solo block in the middle. Finishing the match with five total blocks, Slikboer repeated her first set performance in the third set with another set winning block. On match point in the fifth set, Brett Hagarty killed a set from Danielle Blumentrath (Burlington, Ont.) to win it for Queen's.
Strong serving helped the Gaels throughout the match, as they finished with 11 aces to only five service errors, compared to Western's six aces and ten service errors. Shannon Neville (Cambridge, Ont.) and Blumentrath led Queen's serving charge, each recording three aces and errors from the service line. Slikboer and Katie Hagarty (Aurora, Ont.) served a pair of aces each, with Katie also serving through a six point run in the first set for Queen's.
Neville recorded the Gaels team high in kills for the second straight night, with 14 against the Mustangs, and added 17 digs. Brett also had a balanced game for Queen's, recording 13 kills and 19 digs. Joining Brett with 19 digs was Gaels libero Becky Wilson (Picking, Ont.).
Western's three best players on Saturday were a trio of first years, showing glimpses of how good the team could be in years to come. Courtney Sestric was everywhere for the Mustangs on defence, recording a game-high 28 digs. Taylor Beedie on the outside and Kelsey Veltman in the middle led Western's attack, killing 18 and 15 hits, respectively.
Next up on the Gaels schedule, Queen's (1-1) hits the road on Halloween to play Ryerson before playing at Toronto on Saturday.
Source: Queen's Gaels
Toronto 3 @ Brock 0 (20-25, 12-25, 12-25)
ST. CATHARINES, Ont - The Brock University women's volleyball team (1-2 OUA) was defeated 3-0 (20-25, 12-25, 12-25) by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, Sunday evening, at Bob Davis Gymnasium.
The Varsity Blues would prove to be Brock's toughest test thus far, sitting at No. 5 in the CIS national women's volleyball rankings.
Brock was able to keep it close in the first set as the two teams traded points early-on. Brock rallied down 21-13 to bring the score as close as 22-20 before the Varsity blues capitalized taking the first set by the score of 25-20.
Toronto would evidentally be the stronger side in the match, winning the next two sets, on route to the 3-0 victory.
Leading Brock's scoring was Renee Helmer with nine kills and six digs. Maddie Brown added five kills while Katie Murray recorded two kills and five digs. At setter, Lauren Stirling recorded three kills, 13 assists, and nine digs in the loss. Karlinna O'leary chipped in on defence with nine digs.
Jennifer Neilson led Toronto's attack, collecting a double double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Madelyn Mandryk had a strong performance, at setter, collecting 27 assists and adding 10 digs in the win.
As a team, Brock recorded 22 kills and 23 errors on 90 attempts accounting for a negative hitting percentage. The Varsity Blues hit .282 for the match, adding 33 kills and 10 errors on 84 total attempts.
The Badgers return to action Friday October 31st at 4:00 when they take on the York University Lions on the road.
Source: Brock Badgers
