Toronto, Ottawa and Western head to Guelph to crown new OUA Women's Volleyball Champ

Thanks to a little help from the Western Mustangs, the Guelph Gryphons women's volleyball team is playing host to the 2015 OUA Women's Volleyball Final Four sponsored by Mikasa Sports.

With the highest seeded West Division team in the semifinal pre-determined to host this year's OUA Championships, the Gryphons, advanced past the Brock Badgers on straight sets in the quarter-finals. When the fourth-seeded, Western Mustangs (7-12) upset the top-seeded, McMaster Marauders (15-4) by a 3-1 score, Guelph became the host for the years championship.

The Gryphons will now welcome the Mustangs, as well as the CIS No.3-ranked Univesity of Toronto Varsity Blues and No. 6 Univesity of Ottawa Gee-Gees to the OUA Women's Volleyball Championships beginning Friday, Feb. 20.

(1). Toronto Varsity Blues vs. (4) Western Mustangs
OUA Semifinal – Friday, Feb. 20 @ 8:30 p.m.

The Mustangs (7-12) will be the underdogs once again as they face the Varsity Blues (18-1). Led by OUA East Division MVP Charlotte Sider, the Blues dropped only one regular season game in 2015, a 3-2 loss to Ottawa in their final match, and swept the Mustangs 3-0 in the teams' only meeting.

Throughout the entire regular season, Toronto only dropped seven sets total, but five of those came in the team's last two regular season games; a 3-2 loss against Ottawa, and a 3-2 win against the Ryerson Rams.

Along with Sider, the Varsity Blues have a roster full of all-stars and award winners. Jennifer Neilson was also named an OUA First-Team All-Star, while Bojana Radan and Madelyn Mandryk each made the Second-Team. Known for their potent offensive attack, Toronto also has the best defensive player in the East Division in Denise Wooding, who won Libero of the Year.

Mandryk was named OUA Female Athlete of the Week for her performance in Toronto's 3-0 quarter-final win against the Queen's Gaels. In that game, she recorded 35 of Toronto's 36 assists, and was a catalyst for the offence.

Both OUA MVPs will be on the court when the Mustangs and Varsity Blues face each other on Friday. Lining up across from Sider is West Division MVP Kelsey Veltman, who turned in a rookie season for the ages.

In just her first OUA season, Veltman won West Division MVP and Rookie of the Year, was an OUA First-Team All-Star, and was named to the OUA All-Rookie Team.

Not surprisingly, Veltman didn't look like a rookie in her playoff debut either, leading the Mustangs with 21 points, three service aces and five blocks, while adding 13 kills in the upset win against McMaster. Putting her impressive performance at the net into perspective, Veltman had five blocks while the entire Marauders team had seven.

Western also received strong performances in the quarter-finals from OUA all-rookie libero Courtney Sestric, who had 13 digs in the game and Aja Gyimah, who led Western with 14 kills.

(2) Ottawa Gee-Gees vs. (3) Guelph Gryphons
OUA Semifinal – Friday, Feb. 20 @ 6 p.m.

The Ottawa Gee-Gees (16-3) entered the playoffs on an eight-game winning streak and were the only team to beat Toronto in the regular season.

Led by OUA First-Team All-Stars Myriam English and Kira Tome, Ottawa got a straight-sets win against the Ryerson Rams in their playoff opener, their ninth win in a row, and now have their eyes set on reclaiming the OUA throne after winning a conference title in the 2012-13 season.

Tome had 37 assists in the win against Ryerson, while English led the team with 14 kills, and Ottawa will need another strong performance from the duo playing in front of what is expected to be a raucous pro-Guelph crowd.

Kelsie English, the sister of Myriam, was a Second-Team All-Star this season and led the team with 15 digs in the quarter-finals, adding two service aces and six kills.

In their only meeting of the regular season, Guelph (11-8) was defeated 3-0 by the Gee-Gees, but that game was played in Ottawa and the Gryphons would love nothing more than to return the favour on their home court.

After a mid-season five-game losing streak, the Gryphons are peaking at the right time, currently riding a four-game winning streak that dates back to the regular season, while winning six of their last seven games.

Maddie DeDecker is Guelph's lone First-Team All-Star, and will be relied on heavily in the Final Four, as will OUA West Division Libero of the Year Kristen Almhjell.

In Guelph's quarter-final win against Brock, DeDecker led the team with 12 kills, two service aces and 14 points, while Almhjell was her usual defensively-solid self, tying for the team lead with 15 digs. Gryphons second-team all-star Shannon Morelli also recorded 15 digs against Brock.

The two semifinals winners meet on Saturday, Feb. 21 in the OUA gold medal game at 8:30 p.m., with the gold medal winner advancing to the CIS Championships beginning on Thursday, Feb. 26 at the University of Toronto. The bronze medal game will be played at 6 p.m. on the same Saturday.

As the CIS championship host, the Varsity Blues receive an automatic berth in the tournament, so should they win the OUA gold medal, the OUA silver medalist will also receive a berth at nationals.