W-VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: Rams sweep weekend series to remain undefeated at 4-0
Friday, October 31
Brock 3 @ York 0
The No. 8 nationally ranked York University Lions women's volleyball team lost to the Brock Badgers 3-0 on Friday (Oct. 31) at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
The Badgers won the first set 25-14, the second 25-21 and the third 25-21.
In the first set, the Badgers' powerhouse Renee Helmer batted down five kills, giving them the advantage. Several errors from the Lions also aided the Badgers to lead with 11 points in the first set.
In the second set Abby Ganzhorn (Markham, Ont.) and Michelle Pierce (Windsor, Ont.) led the Lions' line-up to keep a very close game against the Badgers. Towards the end of the set two service errors and a kill from Brianna Hamilton gave the Badgers the win.
In the third set the Lions held a five-point lead over the Badgers from kills by Aleks Arsovic (Burlington, Ont.) and Heather Setka (Winnipeg). After a 19-19 tie, the Badgers began to overcome the Lions with kills from Lauren Stirling and Hamilton, and a series of attack errors. The Badgers won the set with a four-point advantage.
Leaders from the Lions side d Arsovic with six kills and one ace, Brittney Hopley (Thornhill, Ont.) with six kills and three blocks and Pierce with six kills.
Leaders from the Badgers side included Helmer with 10 kills, one ace and two blocks, Maddie Brown with six kills and two aces and Tori Carroll with four kills, four aces and three blocks.
The loss was the Lions' first of the season, dropping them to 3-1 on the year. The Badgers improved to 2-2 with the win.
The next game for the Lions is next Saturday (Nov. 8) against the Nipissing Lakers in North Bay, Ont., beginning at 12pm.
Source: York Lions
Guelph 3 @ Windsor 2
Waterloo 0 @ Windsor 3
In their first weekend of home competition, the Lancer women's volleyball team split a pair of games against the Guelph Gryphons and Waterloo Warriors.
On Halloween night, Windsor lost a five set heartbreaker to the visiting Gryphons (19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-27, 11-15) before rebounding on Saturday with a three set sweep over the Waterloo Warriors (25-19, 25-22, 25-15).
The first set was close until the first technical timeout; however the Gryphons forged ahead late to take the set 25-19. Set two was a close affair with neither team leading by more than a few points and the Lancers took a late lead to win the set 25-23.
Windsor jumped on top early in the third set and held the lead until the end, winning 25-20. The Lancers led most of the fourth set but Guelph managed to fight off a couple of match points and had some late blocking points to take the set in extra points 27-25.
In the fifth set, the Gryphons jumped out to an early lead that they were able to maintain the lead to win the set and game, 15-11.
The Lancers were led by Shannon Dean with 20 kills and 23.5 points, while defensively Windsor was led by Emily Durand and Hannah Robson who had 17 and 16 kills respectively.
On Saturday, Windsor regrouped and had an excellent game against the Warriors.
In the first set, Windsor battled hard at the net and made some great offensive plays to defeat the Warriors 25-19.
The Lancers took on the momentum of the first set win into the second and built an early lead on Waterloo. The Warriors battled back to within a few points of the hosts late in the set; however, a few cards called against the Waterloo bench gave Windsor the edge and the set 25-22.
In the third, the Warriors appeared to have lost focus as a result of the drama in the second set and the Lancers easily took the set 25-15 for the game.
First year Lancer Carleigh Bailey led the Lancers on both sides of the ball with 8 kills and 21 digs, while Dean had 9 kills on the night and Robson chipped in 8.
For the Warriors, Waterloo had a balanced attacked with Shannon Lodoen, Casey Clunas, and Sammie Gwozdz each contributing 7 kills in the loss. Defensively, Brooklyn Gallant had 13 digs, while Lodoen had 10.
Windsor will host the Western Mustangs in a rare week night game this Thursday, November 6th at 6:00pm.
Source: Windsor Lancers
RMC 0 @ Toronto 3
The No. 5 University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team defeated the RMC Paladins 3-0 (25-21, 25-9, 25-16) in their first-ever game at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport on Friday night (Oct. 31).
The Blues, who have yet to drop a set in regular season play, are now 3-0-0 and tied with the Ryerson Rams for the top spot in the OUA East.
"It was great to begin our season at home in the new Goldring Centre," said Varsity Blues head coach Kristine Drakich. "It's such an awesome place to play and it felt really good to be able to bring our hard-earned teamwork home. I'm excited for the season to come and for the chance to host the national championship at such a high calibre facility."
The dynamic duo of fifth-year veterans Jennifer Neilson and Charlotte Sider once again led Toronto's offence. Sider registered a game-high 10 kills, while Neilson added nine kills and six digs on the night.
Caleigh Cruickshank recorded seven kills, nine digs and two blocks, while both Tessa Davis and Emma Jennings added three aces in the win.
RMC was led by Danielle Vortisch's seven-kill performance.
The Varsity Blues return to the floor tomorrow night as they host the Queen's Gaels at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Waterloo 0 @ Western 3
LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs women's volleyball team got their home schedule off to a great start on Friday night, defeating the Waterloo Warriors 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-19) at Alumni Hall. With the win, the Mustangs stand at 2-2, with the Warriors at 1-3 in the third week of OUA regular season action.
"We executed what we worked on all week in practice and that's something we haven't been seeing, that translation," said head coach Melissa Bartlett about her team's performance. "I think [the players] were able to seen the payoff from all their hard work this week. We executed the game plan really well and were able to rely on a lot of people to score points."
After a serving error from the Warriors, the Mustangs took control of the set with an early three-point lead. Capitalizing on unforced errors by Waterloo, the Mustangs used their momentum to extend their lead to 18-12.
Battling their way back from the six-point deficit, Waterloo focused on consistency and accuracy to force the Mustangs into a time out at 20-18.
Coming back out on the court refocused, the Mustangs quickly regained control, taking five of the next six points to close out the set with a 25-19 win.
Leading the scoreboard for the first time in the match, Waterloo took early control of the second set. Despite frequently catching up to the Waterloo score, the Mustangs struggled to surpass them for much of the second set.
Exceeding the Warrior score for the first time in the set at 15-14, the Mustangs began to pull away to create the first substantial point deficit of the set. Riding the momentum, Western used strong attacks and blocks to end the second set 25-18.
With an obvious determination to end the match in three sets, the Mustangs used a fierce offence and rigorous defensive play to create an early six-point lead. Unwilling to allow the set to end without a fight, the Warriors fought to close the point gap at 11-9, and again at 19-18. Unfortantely for the visiting side that would be as close as things would get as Western closed out the set with four consecutive points, ending on a strategically placed tip from first year Kelsey Veltman, to take the final set 25-19 and the match 3-0.
With five kills, two aces, and six blocks Veltman led all players with 12 points, while Aja Gyimah and Warrior Natasha Spaling each recorded 10.5.
The Mustangs return to Alumni Hall on November 1, to face off against the Guelph Gryphons. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
Source: Western Mustangs
Queens 0 @ Ryerson 3 (25-17, 25-15, 25-22)
TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams women's volleyball team moved to 3-0 on the season with a straight sets win over the Queen's Gaels (25-17, 25-15, 25-22) on Friday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Veronica Livingston (Kelowna, B.C.) had a game-high 11 kills while Theanna Vernon (Scarborough, Ont.) added ten to lead the Rams to victory.
The Rams team defence was the story of the match as the home squad racked up 50 digs to just 33 by the Gaels to extend rallies and allow the Ryerson hitters an opportunity to score. Ryerson also won the battle at the net, posting eight blocks, five more than the Gaels.
Ryerson jumped out to an early lead in the first set due in large part to a 5-0 run with Emily Nicholishen (Whitby, Ont.) providing a strong service game. One of Livingston's four first-set kills gave Ryerson a 16-9 advantage at the technical timeout and the Rams cruised from there, taking the first set 25-17.
The Rams fell behind 4-1 out of the gate in the second set but were able to rally a comeback by taking advantage of a few Gaels' miscues. Those miscues sparked a 6-0 run which helped the home side swing the score in their favour. By the technical timeout the Rams had doubled up the Gaels 16-8. An efficient attack down the stretch helped the Rams close out the second set at 25-15 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Rams looked poised to make quick work of the Gaels in the third after jumping out to a 6-1 lead, a point differential that would hold right through to the technical timeout where Ryerson led 16-11.
Queen's rallied late in the set to tie the match at 18-18 but the visitors could never find the advantage and after being tied 22-22, the Rams closed the set with the final three points to complete the sweep.
"We served well and covered our attackers really well so when we got blocked we were in position to recover [and] we balanced our offence fairly well," said head coach Dustin Reid following the game when asked what the keys were to Friday's victory.
Chelsea Briscoe (Georgetown, Ont.) contributed eight kills and four blocks to the Rams offence, while Julie Longman (Newmarket, Ont.) had another strong game defensively with 13 digs.
Brett Hagarty had a team-high seven kills in the losing effort for Queen's.
The Rams will return to the court on Saturday evening when they host the RMC Paladins at 6:00 p.m.
Soure: Ryerson Rams
McMaster 3 @ Lakehead 2
Down and out through two sets, the Marauders slowly climbed out of the hole they had dug for themselves on Friday.
McMaster overhauled a two-set deficit to defeat the Lakehead Thunderwolves 3-2 in Thunder Bay and move to 3-1 on the season. Set scores were 24-26, 20-25, 25-15, 25-23, 15-6 in favour of the Marauders, who returned to the win column after suffering their first loss of the season in Ottawa a week ago.
Middle Maicee Sorensen paced the Marauder offence on Friday, leading her team with 15 points on 11-26 hitting versus three errors, one ace and three blocks. Fellow middle Taylor Brisebois also eclipsed double digits in the win, posting 11 points with 10 kills and a block.
The visitors saw an early 6-0 lead disappear, as Lakehead battled back to grab control as the teams moved toward the finish line in the first set. The Marauders swung momentum once again in the late stages, before Jasmine Fox killed to bring up set point and a double block sealed the first for the Thunderwolves at 26-24.
Lakehead edged the second set from the get-go, and while McMaster stayed within striking distance, the home side deservedly took a two-set lead when Alicia Jack's attempt on the slide play went wide and Lakehead's Kailan Robinson split the block on set point.
With their backs to the wall, the Marauders constructed a positive opening in the third, and forced the Thunderwolves into an early timeout when Sorensen killed on successive points for a 5-1 lead. McMaster continued to build on that lead as the set progressed, and ultimately coasted to a 10-point cushion at 25-15.
Momentum stayed with the Marauders early in the fourth, as McMaster once again built a lead out of the gate, this time forcing a Lakehead timeout at 9-4. But the hosts clawed back into the set slowly, and eventually tied the Marauders at 21, standing just four points from victory.
McMaster rebounded to take a lead when Joanna Jedrzejewska hammered a cross court kill for 23-21, and a service error from Lakehead's Vanessa Masters brought up set point three points later. The Marauders ended the set there with an ace, forcing a sudden-death fifth.
The trend of quick Marauder starts continued, and was ultimately fatal for the home side in an abbreviated set. McMaster built an 8-1 lead as the teams switched ends, and never looked back from there. After a long rally fell the way of the visitors to bring up match point, a Lakehead attack sailed long to complete the three-set comeback.
The two teams renew hostilities on Saturday as they return to the Thunderdome to conclude a weekend doubleheader. That match gets underway at 7:00 p.m. and can be seen live at OUA.tv.
Source: McMaster Marauders
Saturday, November 1
Brock 1@ Nipissing 3
More often than not, the name of the game in volleyball – and any sport really – is making adjustments during a game.
Saturday afternoon, the Nipissing Lakers women's volleyball team was able to make the necessary adjustments, on top of being well-prepared, as they won their third match of the season, beating the Brock Badgers 3-0.
The Lakers have now won two in a row and are off to a strong start in their second OUA season.
Lakers head coach Marc LaRochelle said he was pleased with the way his team executed.
"I thought the team did a very good job of sticking to the gameplan," he said. "We were able to limit runs and put some pressure on the passers with some tough serves."
Heading into the game the Lakers were focussing on their decision making and reading the play in order to use the right shot.
They were able to follow their gameplan for the most part, earning a 25-19 win in the opening set.
The Badgers pushed back in the middle set, but the Lakers weathered the storm when they had to and once again prevailed with a 25-20 win.
And in the third set, Nipissing made sure they wouldn't allow the Badgers back in the match, as they closed the deal with a 25-17 victory.
Lakers middle Brittany Ardron led the attack with 11 kills and seven blocks, while Tracy Hammerton and Christina Caruso chipped in with six kills each.
Lindsay Vanderweide also had five in the win.
The Lakers have now won two in a row, with their only loss of the season coming on the road against Guelph.
While there is still a lot of match left and a lot of season left, the Lakers have started strong and are on the right path.
"The girls have been working very hard and we're enjoying the challenge of improving and getting better every day," LaRochelle said.
Their next action is next Saturday, Nov. 8 against the York Lions.
Source: Nipissing Lakers
For the fourth straight game, Veronica Livingston (Kelowna, BC) had a match-high 15 kills for the Rams. Theanna Vernon (Scarborough, Ont.) added seven kills to lead Ryerson to the win.
Ryerson head coach Dustin Reid was able to go his bench as 12 Rams would get into the match.
"Obviously getting the win is nice and also getting a chance to play a few players that haven't played as much," said Reid. "As a team we played pretty well. We didn't have many moments in the game where we struggled."
Nicole Behnke (Pembroke, Ont.) recorded a team-high nine kills for the Paladins, while Delanie Chang (Delta, BC) added six kills.
The Rams next match is Sunday, November 1 against the only other undefeated team in the OUA, downtown rival Toronto Varsity Blues (4-0).
Source: Ryerson Rams
Queen's 1 @ Toronto 3 (18-25, 25-11, 25-21, 25-16)
Fifth-year right side hitter Jennifer Neilson notched a game-high 17 kills in leading the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team to a 3-1 (18-25, 25-11, 25-21, 25-16) victory over the Queen's Gaels on Saturday night (Nov. 1) at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
With the win, the Blues remain a perfect 4-0-0 and sit atop the OUA standings, while the Gaels drop to 2-2 and sit in fifth in the OUA East division.
A native of Port Coquitlam, B.C., Neilson added 16 digs and two blocks on the night. Third-year left sider hitter Caleigh Cruickshank had 14 kills and 16 digs, while Ottawa native Charlotte Sider had 12 kills, seven digs and four blocks.
Sophomore Tessa Davis tallied 11 kills, while Madelyn Mandryk recorded 46 assists and 18 digs. Libero Denise Wooding led all players with 24 digs in the win.
Shannon Neville led the Gaels with 18 kills and 10 digs in the loss.
The Varsity Blues return to action next Sunday, November 9 as the host the Ryerson Rams at Goldring Centre. Game time is set for 3 p.m.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Guelph 3 @ Western 1
LONDON, Ont. – After fighting through four sets of competitive play, the Western Mustangs fell to the Guelph Gryphons 3-1 this evening at Alumni Hall.
"With any game early in the season it's a learning opportunity," says Coach Melissa Bartlett. "It was an error prone match, neither team really executed very well. Finding the motivation to play hard consistently was a struggle for us, and that's something we need to work on with a young team. Guelph's attack efficiency picked up, and we didn't adjust enough while they adjusted to us a little bit better"
With the loss, the Mustangs stand at a 2-3 season record, while the Gryphons stand at 3-2.
Taking an early lead with a kill and subsequent ace, the Gryphons utilized their momentum to push the Mustangs into a six point deficit at 1-7. Focusing on covering and hitting around the Guelph blocks, the Mustangs rallied to tie up the set at 11-11.
Struggling to create a substantial point differential, both teams remained within two points of each other, with the set again tied at 24-24. Taking the advantage after an attacking error from Guelph, Aja Gyimah's unreturnable attack won the first set for the Mustangs 28-26.
Walking on to the court for the second set, neither team was willing to allow the other to attain a substantial lead. Exchanging points early in the set, the teams remained close until Guelph was able to pull away to create a four point lead at 11-15 and force a Mustang time out.
The Mustangs were able to bring the score within two at 16-18 but Guelph focused on a rigorous defense and tight covering to prevent dropping the ball. Winning on an attacking error from the Mustangs, Guelph took the set 16-25 and ensured the match would extend to a fourth set.
Stepping on to the court for the third set with refreshed determination, the Mustangs took an early three point lead over the Gryphons, who retaliated with a strong performance at the net to pull ahead 6-12. Despite extending their point gap, the Gryphons continued to challenge the purple and white defense. The Gryphons ended the set with a kill and won the third set 19-25.
Goning into the fourth set, Guelph continued to challenge the defensive play of the Mustangs. Strong blocks prevented the typically strong attacks from the Mustangs while Guelph's defensive play remained tight giving them a 15-11 lead.
After a kill from right side hitter Gyimah and her following serve, Guelph began the feel pressure from the Mustangs and called a time out at 16-17. Re-extending their lead to four points, the Gryphons took the fourth and final set 20-25.
Madison Dedecker of the Gryphons topped the score sheet with 20 points, while Serena Smith followed with 15 points from 12 kills, two aces, and two blocks.
Next up, the Mustangs will travel to Windsor on Thursday, November 6 to take on the Lancers. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
Source: Western Mustangs
McMaster 3@ Lakehead 0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-14)
A slow start plagued the Marauders once more on Saturday, but as they had a day earlier, the visitors got back on track in time to seal a win over the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
McMaster defeated Lakehead 3-1 to complete the weekend doubleheader, overcoming a 19-25 first-set loss by winning three consecutive sets to close the match (25-22, 25-19, 25-14). With the win, the Marauders (4-1) retained top spot in the OUA West standings, while the Thunderwolves (0-3) remained winless.
Outside Joanna Jedrzejewska shouldered the Marauder offence efficiently on Saturday, leading McMaster with 17 kills from 36 attempts versus six errors (.306). Setter Caitlin Genovy averaged more than 10 assists per set, leading the match with a total of 41 assists.
McMaster hit just .179 in the opening set, with 10 kills as a team versus five errors on 28 attempts. The hosts were the cleaner team, and deservedly drew first blood by winning the set by a six-point margin.
But the Marauders were much more efficient in the second, committing just two errors over the course of the set and levelling the match when they beat the Thunderwolves to the finish line at 25-22.
Things only improved from there for the visitors, as they grew more comfortable in the third set despite a drop in efficiency on offence. Lakehead proved unable to stem the tide, and the Thunderwolves came apart after dropping the third to fall behind overall.
The Thunderwolves hit only eight kills in the fourth set and committed five errors on 39 attempts, as the Marauders cruised to the victory by an 11-point margin.
Source: McMaster Marauders
