W-VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: No. 5 Varsity Blues improve to 7-0 with weekend sweep
Friday, November 14
Queen's 3 @ Waterloo 1 (15-25, 25-20, 21-25, 23-25)
It was a battle of attrition tonight as the Warriors hosted the Queen's Gaels (4-3) at the PAC on Friday evening. An evenly matched contest saw Queen's defeat Waterloo 3-1 (15-25, 25-20, 21-25, 23-25) in a match that could have gone either way. The Warriors were led by Sammie Gwozdz (Waterloo) who had 13 kills, 12 digs and 5 blocks and now move to 1-7 on the campaign.
Queen's came out flying in the first set and looked poised to walk over the Warriors, jumping out to a 7-1 lead in the first set. Waterloo could not muster a steady offence and were getting outplayed on the defensive side of the ball. The Warriors trailed 16-9 at the technical timeout and eventually lost the opening set in lopsided fashion 25-15.
The black and gold were not going to lay over and looked like a team renewed in the second set. Waterloo's passing game improved tremendously which allowed Emily Needles (Thorndale) to run her offence and put her team back in control. The Warriors fought for a 7-5 lead and extended that to a 21-16 lead, forcing Queen's into a timeout. Both sides would exchange points to close out the set which saw Waterloo win 25-20 and knot the match at one game each.
Back and forth action in the third set led to a 14-11 lead for Queen's, but captain Natasha Spaling (Drayton) scored a statement kill to cut the lead to two. The Gaels led 16-13 at the technical timeout before Waterloo would score 7 of the next 11 points to tie the game at 20-20. Queen's Brett Hagarty would serve tough and score the next three straight points for the Gaels before eventually winning the set 25-21 and taking a 2-1 lead.
Both teams looked determined to emerge victorious in the fourth set and neither time could pull away as they opened the set tied 5-5. Long rallies proved costly for the Warriors as some unforced errors saw them trailing 16-13 at the technical timeout. Waterloo shortened the gap to 22-21 but would come up just short and lose the set 25-23. Queen's won the match 3-1 in what was a very entertaining affair.
Waterloo was led by Gwozdz as well as rookie Claire Mackenzie (Vancouver) who registered 12 kills, 1 service ace and 13 digs in the loss. Needles scored 34 assists, 6 digs and 2 services aces in the defeat.
Leading the way for Queen's was Hagarty who had 12 kills, 17 digs and a solo block whileShannon Neville had 11 kills, 13 digs and one block. Ali Shamie and Danielle Blumentrath combined for 40 assists 3 digs in the victory.
Waterloo now has a lengthy break and will travel to Ryerson on November 23rd for an afternoon contest against the Rams. You can catch the game on OUA TV.
Source: Waterloo Warriors
Brock 1 @ Guelph 3 (25-17, 25-11, 21-25 & 25-14)
Guelph, Ont. – The University of Guelph women's volleyball team defeated the Brock Badgers 3-1 Friday night at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Center. Set scores were 25-17, 25-11, 21-25 & 25-14. With the win, the Gryphons improve to 6-2 on the season and have now won four in a row.
Guelph jumped out to an early lead 7-1 lead in the first set and Brock could get no closer than to within 4 points as the Gryphons won 25-17. Set 2 started almost the same as Guelph led 8-2 and 16-6 at the technical timeout as they cruised to a comfortable 25-11 win. In the third set, some lineup changes from Brock seemed to breathe new life into them as they battled hard early on and then forged a 22-18 lead before closing the set at 25-21. Set 4 started poorly for Guelph as they fell behind 8-5, but a 6-1 run enabled them to reclaim the lead and the momentum. From there, the Gryphons pressured Brock into service errors as they pulled away to take the set and the match at 25-14.
Coach Funk stated, "This was an important win for us as it gives us some separation from some other teams in the standings. We had a decent execution level tonight and Brock wasn't as strong as they had been in other matches. We almost allowed them back into the match at the start of the fourth set but recovered with good defense and serving in the end." Maddie DeDecker led the Guelph offense tonight with 18 points (14 kills, 3 aces, 1 block) followed by Jen Johnstone with 14 (5 kills, 4 aces, 5 blocks) while defensively, Kristen Almhjell contributed 11 digs and solid serve receiving. The Gryphons now have a bye weekend next weekend and will return to action on Nov. 28 at 6pm at Waterloo.
Source: Guelph Gryphons
Lakehead 0 @ Windsor 3 (25-21, 25-21, 25-14)
Ottawa 3 @ Windsor 0 (22-25, 21-25, 22-25)
The Lancer women's volleyball team split a pair of weekend games on home court against the Lakehead Thunderwolves and Ottawa Gee Gees.
Windsor opened the weekend with a weekend sweep over the Lakehead Thunderwolves (25-21, 25-21, 25-14) on Friday night before falling to the Ottawa Gee Gees 3-0 (22-25, 21-25, 22-25) on Saturday afternoon.
After the weekend, Windsor is 3-6 on the season heading into their bye week. They return to action on November 28th when they travel to London to face the Western Mustangs at 6:00pm.
Windsor played a solid two games and showed the fans at the St. Denis Centre their true potential.
Lakehead came out strong on Friday night, pushing the Lancers to keep their own game on track. Richelle Brown was subbed in during the second set and she proved to be a great asset for the Blue & Gold as the adjustment helped them optimize their play and earn the win.
Anna Aguayo led the Lancers with 9 kills and 3 blocks, while Shannon Dean had 8 kills and Hannah Robson led the defense with 13 digs and 7 kills.
On Saturday against Ottawa, Windsor came back from a six point deficit in the first set on some amazing serving from Danielle Lenarduzzi. However, a few miscommunications resulted in the Gee Gees taking the first set 25-21.
Windsor came up with a number of great plays in the second and third sets, with Lenarduzzi leading the attack at key moments. However, despite keeping the games within points, the Lancers were unable to defeat the Gee-Gees, falling in three sets.
Dean had another outstanding day on the court leading the Blue & Gold with 10 kills. Defensively, Carleigh Bailey led the defense with 13 digs and 5 kills.
Source: Windsor Lancers
Saturday, November 15
Toronto 3 @ Nipissing 0
Once again, the Nipissing Lakers women's volleyball team had a strong start, but weren't able to sustain that level throughout the match and suffered their second straight loss.
An entertaining, back and forth and well-played first set against the Toronto Varsity Blues saw the Lakers fall 25-22, but it was a set that could have gone either way.
In the second and third, however, Toronto took over and cruised to the win.
In the second set, the Lakers found themselves down and managed to fight back, but dropped the set 25-14.
In the final set, Toronto took control and finished off the match with a 25-8 victory.
Tracy Hammerton led the Lakers attack with nine kills, while Christina Caruso added six and Lindsay Vanderweide chipped in with three.
The loss drops the Lakers to 3-3 on the season, but they'll get a chance to pick up their fourth win tomorrow when they face the Ryerson Rams.
The Rams defeated York 3-1 Saturday against York.
Nipissing is in the middle of an extremely tough stretch of games, facing three teams who have cracked the CIS top 10, as well as teams who have proven they can be successful at the OUA level.
Source: Nipissing Lakers
Ryerson 3 @ York 1 (25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 25-15)
The York University Lions women's volleyball team was beaten by the Ryerson Rams after four sets on Saturday (Nov. 15) at Tait McKenzie Centre.
The Rams won the first two sets with a score of 25-21 and 25-22. The Lions grabbed a win in the third set by a score of 25-22. However, the Rams were able to seal their victory on the fourth set with a ten-point gap at 25-15.
At the start of the game, both teams remained equal in quality. The Lions took the lead at 8-5 through several miscommunications in the Rams court. A series of mistakes by the Lions gave the Rams the opportunity to catch up.
The Rams took the upper hand after scoring thrice consecutively at 15-12, eventually retaining the lead until the end of the set.
A powerful spike by Michelle Pierce (Windsor, Ont.) opened the Lions scoring. However, the Rams continued their pressure from the previous set and created a tight two-point scoring gap between the teams.
With the help of early timeouts by the Lions, the home team was able to catch up. The Lions scored eight consecutive points to overturn a 7-10 deficit to a 15-10 lead. Aleks Arsovic (Burlington, Ont.) made serves that were key to the attack.
The Lions committed several mistakes after losing out on the oppositions' serves, leading the Rams to catch up at 16-16 and cruise to victory at 25-22.
As the Rams looked to seal their win with the third set, the Lions increased their pace to deny the visiting team a comfortable set. Deflections by the Rams' blockers gave the Lions a fighting chance.
Brittney Hopley (Thornhill, Ont.) executed a sharp spike that caught the Rams off-guard to tighten the margin at 5-6. The home team took advantage of the Rams' confusion to take the lead.
Clever serves by Octavia Wong (Thornhill, Ont.) aided in the Lions' set victory.
However, the Lions failed to apply the same pressure at the fourth set. The Rams' Veronica Livingston inspired the final set win with her clinical kills. Livingston recorded the game's highest kills with 21.
The Rams completely outplayed the Lions to achieve an away victory with the fourth set win.
On Sunday (Nov. 16), the Lions will be looking to break the Toronto Varsity Blues' six-game winning streak in Tait McKenzie Centre at 2pm.
Game time for tomorrow's match is Noon at the RJS Athletic Centre.
Source: York Lions
Lakehead 3 @ Western 2
LONDON, Ont. – After winning the first two sets, the Mustangs saw the Lakehead Thunderwolves come back from the deficit to take the game 3-2 on November 15 at Alumni Hall.
With the loss, the Mustangs sit at 3-5 for the current season. The Thunderwolves earned their first win of the season putting them to a 1-6 record.
"As soon as they pushed back a little bit, we lacked the confidence to really execute at the level we did in the first set," says Coach Melissa Bartlett. "We didn't start as focused [in later sets] as we did in the first set. Against any team in our league you need to be focused all the time. That's the bottom line. You need to be focused and ready to play hard each time."
Opening up the scoreboard with a kill from first year Kelsey Veltman, the Mustangs quickly racked up a four-point lead that proved to be insurmountable for the Thunderwolves. Struggling with the powerful attacks coming from the Mustang end of the court, Lakehead was forced into a time-out at 9-5.
Extending their lead to eight points at 18-10, the Thunderwolves used their second time-out in an attempt to interrupt the Mustang momentum. Returning to the court, the two teams exchanged points before Lakehead hammered out six points to close the point gap to six points.
Unwilling to allow the Thunderwolves to make a comeback, the Mustangs quickly ended the set at 25-18 the same way it began, with a kill from Veltman.
Stepping on to the court for the second set of the match, Lakehead focused on tighter defense and avoiding blocks to take an early lead and double the Mustangs at 4-8. Adjusting to the renewed energy of the Thunderwolves, Western soon surpassed Lakehead at 9-8 to force a time out.
Despite tying up the score at 12-12, the Thunderwolves struggled to defend against the vicious attacks and rigorous defending from the Mustangs to fall back into a small point deficit.
Leading for the remainder of the set, the Mustangs closed out the second 25-22 on a block.
Coming back on to the court fighting to extend the match, the Thunderwolves kept the score close and surpassed the Mustangs at 4-5. Extending their lead to four points, Lakehead pushed the Mustangs into a time-out at 7-11. Finding their stride after struggling for much of the match, Lakehead extended their lead to eight points and challenged with Mustangs with a tighter defense and stronger attacks.
Ending on a Mustang error, Lakehead took the third set 18-25 to push the match into additional play.
Starting off the fourth set on a high note with a kill from Veltman, the Mustangs took an early lead but struggled to fend off Lakehead. Hungry for a win, the Thunderwolves surged ahead and forced Western into a time-out at 6-9. Riding the momentum, Lakehead forced the Mustangs into an eight-point deficit at 12-20 and ended the set 20-25 on a Mustang error.
Opening up the final set with a series of powerful attacks, the desire to win the match was evident in both teams. Unable to pull away from each other, the Mustangs and Thunderwolves traded points until serving errors by the purple and white pushed Lakehead into the lead at 6-8. Unwilling to allow the match to escape them, the Mustangs tied it up at 10-10. Exchanging points until 13-13, a service error from the Mustangs followed by a Lakehead kill ended the final set at 13-15.
Jen Casey, a veteran Thunderwolf, led the scoresheet with 24 points. Close behind was Veltman, a first year Mustang from Brampton, Ont., who recorded 19 points, with fourth year Serena Smith recording 14.5 points.
The Mustangs next face off against the University of Ottawa on Sunday, November 16 at Alumni Hall. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.
Source: Western Mustangs
Sunday, November 16
Ryerson 3 @ Nipissing 0
After a hot start to the season, the Nipissing Lakers women's volleyball team has hit a bit of a speed bump in their journey.
The Lakers dropped Saturday's match to the nationally ranked Ryerson Rams, which puts the Lakers at 3-4 so far this season.
Nipissing fell behind early and couldn't recover or put together enough runs to climb back into the match.
They made a late push in the third set, but the Rams squashed any further chance of a comeback and took the final set, earning the match victory.
Entering the weekend, the Lakers knew they were up against some tough competition, as both teams – Toronto and Ryerson – have been in the national rankings for a number of weeks and continue to lead the way in the OUA.
The Lakers' opponents this weekend are now a combined 13-1.
Leading the way offensively for Nipissing was Tracy Hammerton who had six kills, Brittany Ardron added five and Lindsay Vanderweide chipped in with four.
The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Lakers, as they now face Ottawa in the road next weekend before closing out the first semester in two weeks at home.
Both Ottawa and Queens are in the thick of the race for the post-season and will prove to be huge challenges for Nipissing.
Mixed in there as well is RMC, a team that can't be taken for granted, but one who is having their struggles so far this year.
The Lakers face Ottawa next Saturday afternoon.
The Badgers service game in the first set was causing problems for the visiting side as Lakehead was not able to get into any sort of attacking rhythm. The first set was capped off with an ace by Renee Helmer, as the home side took the set 25-19.
Lakehead managed to hold off a late comeback attempt by the Badgers in the second set, on their way to a 25-23 victory.
Brock regained momentum by winning the third set 25-17, and used this to eventually clinch the final set 25-21, on route to a 3-1 conference victory.
Brock's offense was led by Renee Helmer who led all players with 13 kills and 13 digs for the double-double. Abby Jenkins contributed with 10 kills and 6 digs, while setter Lauren Stirling chipped in with seven kills, nine digs and 35 assists. Libero Karlinna O'Leary led the defense with 19 digs on the afternoon.
The Thunderwolves offensive leaders were Jen Casey with 11 kills, and Jasmine Fox with nine kills. Libero Breanne Hilhorts recorded 16 digs on defense, while setter Vanessa Masters collected 30 assists.
The Badgers attack tallied a total of 46 kills and 21 errors on 140 total attempts for a .179 hitting percentage. Lakehead ended the contest with a .142 hitting percentage after recording 36 kills and 19 errors on 120 total attempts.
Brock will be on the road for their next game as they take on the Royal Military College on Friday, November 21st at 7pm.
With the loss, the Mustang record sits at 3-6 for the season good for fourth place in the OUA West standings. While the Gee-Gees sit in third place in the OUA East with a 5-2 record.
"Looking at set one and two, we were in control 100% of the time," says Coach Melissa Bartlett. "They had a few runs of points, but we never really relinquished our lead. During set three, we started to take a step backwards when they pushed us back. Mid-way through set three was where the momentum shifted, and then it was really hard to get it back."
"All we're going to do moving forward is focus on the positives. That was probably the best match we've played this season so far. Regardless of the score, best match, and we're happy with that."
Starting off the first set with a series of un-returnable serves, the Gee-Gees left the Mustangs trailing by four points. Despite leading for much of the match, the Mustangs flipped the score to pull ahead at 20-19 after adjusting to the powerful attacks and consistent serving displayed by Ottawa.
Ending on a kill from fourth year Mustang Laura Lytwynec, the Mustangs took the first set 25-20.
Stepping back on to the court energized by their earlier success, the Mustangs raced ahead of the Gee-Gees to create a four-point deficit. Relying on their strong net play, the Mustangs extended the lead to 8 points at 18-10 and force a time-out from Ottawa.
Returning back to the court, Ottawa surged through the Mustang blocks for six points, interrupted only twice by points from the purple and white, to bring the score to 22-20. Un-intimidated by the Gee-Gees, the Mustangs scored three fast points to win the second set 25-20.
Taking an early lead in the third set, the Mustangs forced Ottawa into a five-point deficit using tight defense and refusing to allow the ball to drop. The Gee-Gees responded by focusing on powerful kills that left the Mustangs stunned and unable to react. Surpassing Western, Ottawa used serving consistency and strategic net play to force the Mustangs into a time-out at 16-22.
Unable to pull back the reigns on the Gee-Gee, Western struggled to combat their newly energized opponents and lost the third set 17-25 after a kill from Sophie Chenail.
Hoping to end the match in four sets, the Mustangs raked up a fast five-point deficit for the Gee-Gees. Quickly adjusting to the Western game plan, Ottawa filled defensive holes and focused on blocking attacks to tie up the set at 10-10.
Exchanging points, both teams worked to exploit known areas of weakness in service and attack reception, until communication errors by the Mustangs allowed Ottawa to pull ahead.
Despite calling two time-outs after the Gee-Gees hit 20 points, Western was unable to stop their momentum and regain control of the set. Ending with a kill from Alix Durivage, Ottawa took the fourth set 20-25.
Stepping back onto the court for the determining set, both teams were looking to end the match quickly. Despite starting out with an early lead, the Mustangs were soon surpassed and fell into an insurmountable three-point deficit.
Struggling to combat the tall blocks and powerful attacks from the opposite end of the court, Western's point deficit extended until Durivage ended the match at 9-15 with a service ace.
Rookie Kelsey Veltman led the score sheet, recording 27 points throughout the five sets from 20 kills, two service aces, four solo blocks, and two assisted blocks. Myriam English followed closely behind with 21 points, while Durivage recorded 18.5.
The Mustangs take a 12-day break before returning to the court, with their next match scheduled for November 28 at Alumni Hall against Windsor. The game is set to begin at 6:00 p.m.
The Blues grabbed the first set win after an intense deadlock was broken at 32-30. The Lions managed to win the second set with a score of 25-18. However, the Blues emerged victorious after the final two sets ended with the team scoring 25-19 on both. The Varsity Blues continue their winning streak with a seventh consecutive win.
Both teams were equally matched in all sets. The Lions serve gave them the first point of the game through Kirsten Dillon (Surrey, B.C.).
After a groggy start, the Blues found their rhythm and looked comfortable with a 6-4 lead.
A block from Aleks Arsovic (Burlington, Ont.) gave the Lions a chance to get back into the game from an 8-13 deficit to a two-point margin at 11-13.
Substitute Octavia Wong (Thornhill, Ont.) came in to make crucial digs and serves, giving the Lions a lead at 19-17. The two-point gap extended until the next timeout at 22-20.
The Lions committed a few mistakes that deuced the scoreline at 24-24. The deuce carried on seven times until an attempted dig by the Lions grazed the net for two seconds before falling into the Lions' court.
Veneta Mincheva (Gatineau, Que.) executed spikes that made a key difference in the second set.
The Blues initially led at 12-7 until errors on the defence allowed the Lions to equalise. Brittney Hopley (Thornhill, Ont.) stepped up several times to successfully kill the play. Hopley ended with eight kills and four blocks in the whole game.
Digs by libero Jennifer Black (London, Ont.) solidified the Lions' lead, eventually helping to win the set. Black achieved an impressive tally of 29 digs by the end of the contest.
The third set started with the Lions taking the lead. Hopley's serves caused confusion in the opposition's court. However, the Blues found the game-changing equaliser at 12-12. Eventually, the visiting team took the lead at 16-12 before the next timeout.
Powerful spikes from the Blues stunned the Lions, who were unable to defend the incoming hits. The Blues ended the set with a win.
The fourth set saw both teams equally competitive again. The Lions gained the edge in a 7-4 lead. At the next timeout, the Blues overturned the deficit to a 16-12 advantage. The home team had trouble defending the spikes that cost them the set and the whole game.
The Lions will be playing against the Ottawa Gee-Gees on the road on Sunday (Nov. 23) at 2pm.
