February 11, 2013
M-VOLLEYBALL: Toronto, Ryerson earn the final two playoff spots
February 9 - RMC @ Ryerson
TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams snapped a seven game losing streak with a straight sets 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-13) victory over the visiting RMC Paladins on Saturday afternoon.
Robert Wojcik (Whitby, Ont.) had a game-high nine kills and Luka Milosevic (Toronto) added eight kills and a game-high five solo blocks to guide the Rams to victory.
The first set was a tightly contested one with neither team gaining a lead of more than four points at any time in the set. A kill from Stefan Ristic (Belgrade, Serbia) sent the Rams into the technical timeout with a 16-13 advantage and they maintained the three point lead at 23-20 before RMC rattled off three straight points to tie it at 23-23.
The duo of Wojcik and Milosevic closed things out for Ryerson with a kill and a block to give the Rams the 25-23 win to hold a 1-0 lead overall.
The Rams shook off the close first set and jumped out to a 7-1 advantage to start the second. RMC struggled with their offence, posting just three kills in the set and compiling eight attack errors to help the Rams maintain their lead which grew to as many as 12 at 22-10. A Paladins service error clinched the set win for Ryerson at 25-14 and the Rams took a 2-0 overall lead.
The teams exchanged the first few points of the third set before a 5-0 run from the Rams opened up a seven point advantage at 12-5. Ryerson tallied 15 kills to RMC's five in the set to cruise to a 25-13 set victory and take the match in straight sets.
Marc Reardon (London, Ont.) had a strong game for the Rams as well, posting four kills on six attacks and registering a game-high three service aces.
Thomas McMullen (Ottawa, Ont.) had a team-high five kills and four solo blocks for RMC while Ryan Courtney (Charlottetown, PEI) had a game-high six digs in the loss.
The victory moves the Rams record to 6-11 on the year and though they have not officially clinched a playoff berth, the win certainly gets them closer. The victory forces one of Guelph or Windsor to go 2-0 this weekend.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
Queen's @ Toronto
The Varsity Blues men’s volleyball team fell 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 20-25, 23-25) to the Queen’s Gaels on Saturday, February 9 at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
The Blues sit tied with the Ryerson Rams with identical 6-11 records for sixth place in the OUA standings. Both team will make the playoffs following the conclusion of the regular season tomorrow.
The Queen’s Gaels improve to 11-6 and are in fourth place.
Fifth-year veteran Mitchell Woodside (Clyde River, P.E.I.) and Dundas, Ont., native Jonathan Adomait led all players with 14 kills and five digs in the loss. Third-year standout Jake Dysselhof added eight kills and eight digs on the day.
Phillipe Goyer led the Gaels with 13 kills, while Tyler Scheerhoorn had 12 and Mike Tomlinson added 10 in the win.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Western @ Waterloo
The Warriors dropped a tightly contested match to the Western Mustangs on Saturday night at the PAC by a score of 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 25-20, 22-25, 15-10).
The loss is only Waterloo's third of the year and puts them at 14-3 going into their final game of the season on Sunday against the Windsor Lancers.
With a win over the Lancers the Warriors will clinch second spot but a loss and a Western win will result in a tie-breaker with the Mustangs to determine the second seed.
The Warriors opened the match the way they hoped with a 25-19 set win but the Mustangs battled back to take the next two 25-21, 25-20.
The resilient Warriors would find a way to get back in the match and send it to a fifth set thanks to a 25-22 fourth set win. The fifth set would however be all Mustangs as they captured the deciding set 15-10 to pick up their 13th win of the season.
Fiodar Kazhamiaka (Waterloo) had a strong game in the loss with 15 kills, four digs and two blocks. From the middle Jordan Dyck (St. Catharines) collected 14 kills on his 19 attempts. Scott Thomson (St. Marys) earned 46 assists and 10 digs for the black and gold.
Leading the charge for the Mustangs was Justin Scapinello (London) who led all players with 19 kills.
Sournce: Waterloo Sports Info
Windsor @ Guelph
GUELPH, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphons men’s volleyball team defeated the Lancers in a 3-0 sweet tonight (Feb. 9) at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. Set scores were 25-22, 25-13 and 25-23.
The win boosts the Gryphons to 5-12 and drops the Lancers to a 4-13 record. The Gryphons finish the season off tomorrow with a game against the Western Mustangs at the Mitchell Centre. The team failed to make the playoffs, sitting in the eighth spot of the OUA standings with the top seven making the post season.
Winston Rosser(Whitby, ON) led all players on the night with 16 points (9 kills, 6 aces, 1 block). He was followed by Andrew Whitaker (Sharon, ON) with 9 points (6 kills, 2 aces, 1 block).
Greg Simone (London, ON) headed the Lancer charge with 11 points (10 kills, 1 ace).
The Gryphons entered the first set with a technically sound attack to jump ahead 6-0 to set the pace for the remainder of the night. Continuous support from Connor Cressman (Waterloo, ON) who tallied four digs from the back row in the set allowed the Gryphons to stay ahead of the Lancers' attack to enter the technical timeout up 16-7. During the break, the Lancers were able to find momentum to pull the game to within five. Unfortunately the brief burst proved inconsequential as Marc Wilson (Stratford, ON) threw up the set-winning block to steal the first with a 25-22 win.
Wilson continued his dominant play at the net and was joined by Ryan Killeen (Oakville, ON) and Winston Rosser to pull ahead 13-6. The Lancer attack at the net remained strong throughout the second but were unable to penetrate the strong defensive front to close the gap as the Gryphons took the second 25-13.
The Gryphons maintained their consistent pace in the opening stages of the third to jump ahead 7-4. However, the Lancers found a cohesive rhythm to take their first lead of the night at 12-11. The Lancers continued this pace into the technical timeout ahead 16-14. The Lancers were able to maintain a steady lead until the Gryphons pieced together a 4-point streak to retake the lead at 22-21. From there, the Gryphons were able to hold on to complete the comeback following a Winston Rosser attack to take the night in three with a 25-23 win in the third.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
February 10 - Queen's @ Ryerson
TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams men's volleyball clinched a playoff berth for the first time in five seasons with a three set sweep (25-22, 25-15, 25-20) of the visiting Queen's Gaels on Sunday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Playing in his final home game of his career, fifth year senior Luka Milosevic (Toronto) led the Rams with a game-high ten kills, two service aces and a block.
Ryerson had lots of energy right from the first serve as they jumped on the Gaels early in the first set, opening the game with the first four points. Queen's didn't let the deficit affect them as they played an aggressive set. However, their aggressive style led to ten attacking errors which helped the Rams down the stretch.
The Rams held a 22-20 advantage before Queen's tied things up. A timely Ryerson timeout shifted the momentum back in the Rams favour as the home squad tallied the next three points, starting with a Queen's error, to take the set 25-22.
Ryerson carried their momentum from the first set right into the second and scored their best set of the match with 12 kills and hitting 26 percent. The Gaels, meanwhile, struggled in the middle stanza, tallying just four kills. The Rams cruised to a 25-15 set win to lead the match 2-0.
With their opponents on the ropes, Ryerson maintained their strong play and jumped out to a 6-1 lead to open the third set. The deficit seemed to deflate the Gaels hopes of a comeback as the visitors seemed to lose interest in the contest.
Ryerson racked up another nine kills in the set to Queen's six and strong serving from Milosevic helped the Rams close out the set for a 25-20 victory to complete the sweep.
The Rams outhit the Gaels in every set for 32 total kills to just 17 for Queen's. Ryerson also led in the dig department, posting 22 to the Gaels 16.
Though they had just six service aces on the afternoon the Rams had a strong serving game and assistant coach Lukas Porosa attributed that to the comfort level within the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
"You always want to be aggressive with the serve. This is one of the few home games this semester in the MAC and we feel much more confident serving here. We've been working on serving for the past while and it all came together today."
After dropping seven straight games the Rams won their last two games of the season and are getting hot at the right time.
"You never know what can happen in the playoffs. We made it there and now we're the underdog and the pressure is on the top teams who are hosting," said Porosa.
Robert Wojcik (Whitby, Ont.) tallied six kills for the Rams and a game-high seven digs. Senior Milad Chitan (Richmond Hill, Ont.) had one of his best passing games of the season, posting five digs and providing steady first contact off the Gaels serves.
Tyler Scheerhoorn (Belleville, Ont.) had a team-high seven kills for the Gaels and added two blocks in the loss.
The Rams finish the season with a 7-11 record and currently sit in the sixth position. The final OUA standings have yet to be determined, but Ryerson will play a postseason game on Saturday, February 16.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
McMaster @ York
The York University Lions men's volleyball team faced a tough opponent in the No. 2 nationally-ranked McMaster Marauders on Sunday (Feb. 10), ultimately upsetting the OUA's top team in straight sets by scores of 25-19, 25-23, and 25-21.
The Marauders came into the match with a perfect 17-0 mark on the year, but the Lions handed them their first loss in the regular-season finale for both teams. The win improves the Lions' record to 10-8, a two-win improvement over last season and they finish fifth in the OUA standings. McMaster had already claimed top spot.
The Lions leapt to an early lead in the first set and never looked back, repeatedly frustrating the Marauders attackers with stiff blocks up the middle as the Lions cruised to a 25-19 first set victory.
The second set proved to be a nail biter as an early four-point streak gave the Marauders a significant lead. The Lions, however, managed to rally with a six-point streak of their own to erase the deficit and even take a small lead of their own. The teams traded points until the Lions were able to emerge from a 23-23 deadlock and secure the set 25-23, giving them a 2-0 lead against the powerful Marauders.
Both teams scored back and forth to open the third set until the Lions opened up the offence with a five-point run that saw them sneak past the Marauders.
Though McMaster was able to close the gap and force a close match, two consecutive service aces from Alexander Duncan-Thibault (Scarborough, Ont.) spurred the Lions on to an eventual 25-21 victory, shutting the Marauders down and taking the match 3-0.
Outside hitter Ray Szeto (Sutton, Ont.) led all players with 16 points, boasting a game-leading 13 kills as well as two blocks and one service ace. Felipe Humana-Paredes (Toronto) was strong up the middle with five kills and three blocks for eight points. Karim Khalil (Mississauga, Ont.) added eight points as well, with seven kills and one block, and he led all players with eight digs. Setter Paul Jakubiak (Toronto) was the game's assist leader, with 33.
The Marauders' outside hitter Jori Mantha (Vanier, Ont.) led his team with 10.5 points, across eight kills and 2.5 blocks. Alexander Elliott (Cobourg, Ont.) contributed eight points with seven kills and one block, and Kevin Stevens (Winnipeg) led his team with five digs. Setter Austin Campion-Smith (Bowmanville, Ont.) earned 23 assists.
The game was a preceded by a ceremony honouring the team's graduating players, Humana-Paredes and Khalil.
The Lions will next face the Queen's Gaels in an OUA quarter-final match next weekend in the first round of the playoffs. The date and time of the contest has yet to be determined.
Source: York Sports Info
Wesern @ Guelph
The Guelph Gryphons men's volleyball team toppled the OUA No.3 Western Mustangs today (Feb. 10) 3-0. The win puts the Gryphons at a final record of 6-12 to place eighth in the OUA, failing to make the playoffs while the Mustangs drop to 13-5. Set scores were 25-22, 25-21 and 31-29.
Winston Rosser (Whitby, ON) topped the Gryphon offence today with 17 points (15 kills, 2 aces). Timothy Warnholtz (Guelph, ON) added 14 points (11 kills, 2 aces, 1 block) to the sweep.
Garret May (Scarborough, ON) led all scorers with 18 points (16 kills, 2 aces).
The first set got off to an even start with both teams swapping the service until Western was able to sneak ahead 10-7. Guelph called a strategic timeout in an effort to rally the team to eventually bring the game to within one. Unfortunately, they were unable to halt the Mustangs who went ahead 16-14 at the technical timeout. After the break the Gryphons came out on top with an impressive rally to regain a 20-19 lead. With the help of Winston Rosser's seven-point effort in the first, they Gryphons were able to hold on for the 25-22 win.
In the second, Marc Wilson's (Stratford, ON) contribution at the net helped the Gryphons launch an early 4-1 lead. However, Western was quick to piece together a comeback to once again regain control of the service at seven. Moments later, Timothy Warnholtz picked up his second of four kills in the set to revitalize the Gryphon momentum and carry his team into the technical timeout ahead 16-11. Under rookie middle, Mike Choja (London, ON) the Western pressure at the net found a consistent rhythm to tie the game up at 17. But despite this last second surge from the Mustangs, the Gryphons reopened their lead to seal the second 25-21.
In the third, the Mustangs took an early 4-1 lead. But with a revitalizing kill from Rosser the team managed to cut the lead to one and steal the momentum. The Mustangs remained determined to stop the Gryphon comeback with great blocking from Chris Lam (Markham, ON) and Choja to push ahead 15-11. However the Gryphons were able to cut the lead to two at 16-14. And, with four unanswered points, the Gryphons found themselves down by one at 21-20. Phil Wessle (Cambridge, ON) and Kyle Richards (London, ON) threw up the combined block to tie the game at 24 after being down two. The Mustangs jumped on a quick Gryphon miscue to regain a 26-25 lead only to once again relinquish the lead, and with it their momentum following an Andrew Whittaker (Sharon, ON) kill. And with back-to-back Warnholtz kills, the Gryphons took a 30-29 lead. Rosser then sealed the win with a kill to earn the hard-fought 31-29 victory.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
RMC @ Toronto
Fifth-year right side hitter Mitchell Woodside tallied 12 kills in his final home game in leading the Varsity Blues men’s volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-20) win over the RMC Paladins on Sunday afternoon at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
The Blues (7-11) end the regular season in a tie for sixth place with the Ryerson Rams (7-11). The two teams went 1-1, both winning their matches 3-2. The tiebreaker then moves to point differential in head-to-head competition, where Ryerson wins on account of 205 points to Toronto’s 203.
The seventh-place U of T will travel to face the second-place Waterloo Warriors (14-3) in OUA quarter-final action on Saturday, February 16 at 7 p.m.
A native of Clyde River, P.E.I., Woodside was honoured in a special pre-game ceremony as U of T’s lone graduating player. He added seven digs, two blocks and two aces to his game-high 12 kills.
RMC was led by Thomas McMullen’s (Ottawa) nine kills in the loss.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Windsor @ Waterloo
The Waterloo men's volleyball team dropped their second straight game for the first time this year to close out their 2012-13 season as the Windsor Lancers swept the Warriors 3-0 (25-14, 30-28, 25-21) on Sunday afternoon at the PAC.
It was the final regular season home game for two Warriors as Hussein Abdo (Ottawa/Warriors) and Corey Yednoroz (Windsor/Warriors) were honoured for the commitment and dedication to the Waterloo men's volleyball program. Both Abdo and Yednoroz started for Waterloo and put together strong numbers as Abdo collected 31 assists while Yednoroz was stellar leading all players with 15 kills. Yednoroz also added five digs and three blocks.
Leading the way for Windsor was Kyle Williamson (Essex) and Adam Thompson (Portage) who each had 12 kills. Setter Andrew Chelladurai (London) collected 34 assists in the Lancer victory.
With the loss Waterloo finished the season with a 14-4 record, good for second overall in the OUA as the Western Mustangs also dropped their Sunday afternoon match. The No. 2 McMaster Marauders were also handed a loss on Sunday, their first of the season.
The Warriors will now prepare for their OUA quarter-final match as they host the seventh seed Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, February 16 at 7pm.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams snapped a seven game losing streak with a straight sets 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-13) victory over the visiting RMC Paladins on Saturday afternoon.
Robert Wojcik (Whitby, Ont.) had a game-high nine kills and Luka Milosevic (Toronto) added eight kills and a game-high five solo blocks to guide the Rams to victory.
The first set was a tightly contested one with neither team gaining a lead of more than four points at any time in the set. A kill from Stefan Ristic (Belgrade, Serbia) sent the Rams into the technical timeout with a 16-13 advantage and they maintained the three point lead at 23-20 before RMC rattled off three straight points to tie it at 23-23.
The duo of Wojcik and Milosevic closed things out for Ryerson with a kill and a block to give the Rams the 25-23 win to hold a 1-0 lead overall.
The Rams shook off the close first set and jumped out to a 7-1 advantage to start the second. RMC struggled with their offence, posting just three kills in the set and compiling eight attack errors to help the Rams maintain their lead which grew to as many as 12 at 22-10. A Paladins service error clinched the set win for Ryerson at 25-14 and the Rams took a 2-0 overall lead.
The teams exchanged the first few points of the third set before a 5-0 run from the Rams opened up a seven point advantage at 12-5. Ryerson tallied 15 kills to RMC's five in the set to cruise to a 25-13 set victory and take the match in straight sets.
Marc Reardon (London, Ont.) had a strong game for the Rams as well, posting four kills on six attacks and registering a game-high three service aces.
Thomas McMullen (Ottawa, Ont.) had a team-high five kills and four solo blocks for RMC while Ryan Courtney (Charlottetown, PEI) had a game-high six digs in the loss.
The victory moves the Rams record to 6-11 on the year and though they have not officially clinched a playoff berth, the win certainly gets them closer. The victory forces one of Guelph or Windsor to go 2-0 this weekend.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
Queen's @ Toronto
The Varsity Blues men’s volleyball team fell 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 20-25, 23-25) to the Queen’s Gaels on Saturday, February 9 at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
The Blues sit tied with the Ryerson Rams with identical 6-11 records for sixth place in the OUA standings. Both team will make the playoffs following the conclusion of the regular season tomorrow.
The Queen’s Gaels improve to 11-6 and are in fourth place.
Fifth-year veteran Mitchell Woodside (Clyde River, P.E.I.) and Dundas, Ont., native Jonathan Adomait led all players with 14 kills and five digs in the loss. Third-year standout Jake Dysselhof added eight kills and eight digs on the day.
Phillipe Goyer led the Gaels with 13 kills, while Tyler Scheerhoorn had 12 and Mike Tomlinson added 10 in the win.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Western @ Waterloo
The Warriors dropped a tightly contested match to the Western Mustangs on Saturday night at the PAC by a score of 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 25-20, 22-25, 15-10).
The loss is only Waterloo's third of the year and puts them at 14-3 going into their final game of the season on Sunday against the Windsor Lancers.
With a win over the Lancers the Warriors will clinch second spot but a loss and a Western win will result in a tie-breaker with the Mustangs to determine the second seed.
The Warriors opened the match the way they hoped with a 25-19 set win but the Mustangs battled back to take the next two 25-21, 25-20.
The resilient Warriors would find a way to get back in the match and send it to a fifth set thanks to a 25-22 fourth set win. The fifth set would however be all Mustangs as they captured the deciding set 15-10 to pick up their 13th win of the season.
Fiodar Kazhamiaka (Waterloo) had a strong game in the loss with 15 kills, four digs and two blocks. From the middle Jordan Dyck (St. Catharines) collected 14 kills on his 19 attempts. Scott Thomson (St. Marys) earned 46 assists and 10 digs for the black and gold.
Leading the charge for the Mustangs was Justin Scapinello (London) who led all players with 19 kills.
Sournce: Waterloo Sports Info
Windsor @ Guelph
GUELPH, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphons men’s volleyball team defeated the Lancers in a 3-0 sweet tonight (Feb. 9) at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. Set scores were 25-22, 25-13 and 25-23.
The win boosts the Gryphons to 5-12 and drops the Lancers to a 4-13 record. The Gryphons finish the season off tomorrow with a game against the Western Mustangs at the Mitchell Centre. The team failed to make the playoffs, sitting in the eighth spot of the OUA standings with the top seven making the post season.
Winston Rosser(Whitby, ON) led all players on the night with 16 points (9 kills, 6 aces, 1 block). He was followed by Andrew Whitaker (Sharon, ON) with 9 points (6 kills, 2 aces, 1 block).
Greg Simone (London, ON) headed the Lancer charge with 11 points (10 kills, 1 ace).
The Gryphons entered the first set with a technically sound attack to jump ahead 6-0 to set the pace for the remainder of the night. Continuous support from Connor Cressman (Waterloo, ON) who tallied four digs from the back row in the set allowed the Gryphons to stay ahead of the Lancers' attack to enter the technical timeout up 16-7. During the break, the Lancers were able to find momentum to pull the game to within five. Unfortunately the brief burst proved inconsequential as Marc Wilson (Stratford, ON) threw up the set-winning block to steal the first with a 25-22 win.
Wilson continued his dominant play at the net and was joined by Ryan Killeen (Oakville, ON) and Winston Rosser to pull ahead 13-6. The Lancer attack at the net remained strong throughout the second but were unable to penetrate the strong defensive front to close the gap as the Gryphons took the second 25-13.
The Gryphons maintained their consistent pace in the opening stages of the third to jump ahead 7-4. However, the Lancers found a cohesive rhythm to take their first lead of the night at 12-11. The Lancers continued this pace into the technical timeout ahead 16-14. The Lancers were able to maintain a steady lead until the Gryphons pieced together a 4-point streak to retake the lead at 22-21. From there, the Gryphons were able to hold on to complete the comeback following a Winston Rosser attack to take the night in three with a 25-23 win in the third.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
February 10 - Queen's @ Ryerson
TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams men's volleyball clinched a playoff berth for the first time in five seasons with a three set sweep (25-22, 25-15, 25-20) of the visiting Queen's Gaels on Sunday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Playing in his final home game of his career, fifth year senior Luka Milosevic (Toronto) led the Rams with a game-high ten kills, two service aces and a block.
Ryerson had lots of energy right from the first serve as they jumped on the Gaels early in the first set, opening the game with the first four points. Queen's didn't let the deficit affect them as they played an aggressive set. However, their aggressive style led to ten attacking errors which helped the Rams down the stretch.
The Rams held a 22-20 advantage before Queen's tied things up. A timely Ryerson timeout shifted the momentum back in the Rams favour as the home squad tallied the next three points, starting with a Queen's error, to take the set 25-22.
Ryerson carried their momentum from the first set right into the second and scored their best set of the match with 12 kills and hitting 26 percent. The Gaels, meanwhile, struggled in the middle stanza, tallying just four kills. The Rams cruised to a 25-15 set win to lead the match 2-0.
With their opponents on the ropes, Ryerson maintained their strong play and jumped out to a 6-1 lead to open the third set. The deficit seemed to deflate the Gaels hopes of a comeback as the visitors seemed to lose interest in the contest.
Ryerson racked up another nine kills in the set to Queen's six and strong serving from Milosevic helped the Rams close out the set for a 25-20 victory to complete the sweep.
The Rams outhit the Gaels in every set for 32 total kills to just 17 for Queen's. Ryerson also led in the dig department, posting 22 to the Gaels 16.
Though they had just six service aces on the afternoon the Rams had a strong serving game and assistant coach Lukas Porosa attributed that to the comfort level within the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
"You always want to be aggressive with the serve. This is one of the few home games this semester in the MAC and we feel much more confident serving here. We've been working on serving for the past while and it all came together today."
After dropping seven straight games the Rams won their last two games of the season and are getting hot at the right time.
"You never know what can happen in the playoffs. We made it there and now we're the underdog and the pressure is on the top teams who are hosting," said Porosa.
Robert Wojcik (Whitby, Ont.) tallied six kills for the Rams and a game-high seven digs. Senior Milad Chitan (Richmond Hill, Ont.) had one of his best passing games of the season, posting five digs and providing steady first contact off the Gaels serves.
Tyler Scheerhoorn (Belleville, Ont.) had a team-high seven kills for the Gaels and added two blocks in the loss.
The Rams finish the season with a 7-11 record and currently sit in the sixth position. The final OUA standings have yet to be determined, but Ryerson will play a postseason game on Saturday, February 16.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
McMaster @ York
The York University Lions men's volleyball team faced a tough opponent in the No. 2 nationally-ranked McMaster Marauders on Sunday (Feb. 10), ultimately upsetting the OUA's top team in straight sets by scores of 25-19, 25-23, and 25-21.
The Marauders came into the match with a perfect 17-0 mark on the year, but the Lions handed them their first loss in the regular-season finale for both teams. The win improves the Lions' record to 10-8, a two-win improvement over last season and they finish fifth in the OUA standings. McMaster had already claimed top spot.
The Lions leapt to an early lead in the first set and never looked back, repeatedly frustrating the Marauders attackers with stiff blocks up the middle as the Lions cruised to a 25-19 first set victory.
The second set proved to be a nail biter as an early four-point streak gave the Marauders a significant lead. The Lions, however, managed to rally with a six-point streak of their own to erase the deficit and even take a small lead of their own. The teams traded points until the Lions were able to emerge from a 23-23 deadlock and secure the set 25-23, giving them a 2-0 lead against the powerful Marauders.
Both teams scored back and forth to open the third set until the Lions opened up the offence with a five-point run that saw them sneak past the Marauders.
Though McMaster was able to close the gap and force a close match, two consecutive service aces from Alexander Duncan-Thibault (Scarborough, Ont.) spurred the Lions on to an eventual 25-21 victory, shutting the Marauders down and taking the match 3-0.
Outside hitter Ray Szeto (Sutton, Ont.) led all players with 16 points, boasting a game-leading 13 kills as well as two blocks and one service ace. Felipe Humana-Paredes (Toronto) was strong up the middle with five kills and three blocks for eight points. Karim Khalil (Mississauga, Ont.) added eight points as well, with seven kills and one block, and he led all players with eight digs. Setter Paul Jakubiak (Toronto) was the game's assist leader, with 33.
The Marauders' outside hitter Jori Mantha (Vanier, Ont.) led his team with 10.5 points, across eight kills and 2.5 blocks. Alexander Elliott (Cobourg, Ont.) contributed eight points with seven kills and one block, and Kevin Stevens (Winnipeg) led his team with five digs. Setter Austin Campion-Smith (Bowmanville, Ont.) earned 23 assists.
The game was a preceded by a ceremony honouring the team's graduating players, Humana-Paredes and Khalil.
The Lions will next face the Queen's Gaels in an OUA quarter-final match next weekend in the first round of the playoffs. The date and time of the contest has yet to be determined.
Source: York Sports Info
Wesern @ Guelph
The Guelph Gryphons men's volleyball team toppled the OUA No.3 Western Mustangs today (Feb. 10) 3-0. The win puts the Gryphons at a final record of 6-12 to place eighth in the OUA, failing to make the playoffs while the Mustangs drop to 13-5. Set scores were 25-22, 25-21 and 31-29.
Winston Rosser (Whitby, ON) topped the Gryphon offence today with 17 points (15 kills, 2 aces). Timothy Warnholtz (Guelph, ON) added 14 points (11 kills, 2 aces, 1 block) to the sweep.
Garret May (Scarborough, ON) led all scorers with 18 points (16 kills, 2 aces).
The first set got off to an even start with both teams swapping the service until Western was able to sneak ahead 10-7. Guelph called a strategic timeout in an effort to rally the team to eventually bring the game to within one. Unfortunately, they were unable to halt the Mustangs who went ahead 16-14 at the technical timeout. After the break the Gryphons came out on top with an impressive rally to regain a 20-19 lead. With the help of Winston Rosser's seven-point effort in the first, they Gryphons were able to hold on for the 25-22 win.
In the second, Marc Wilson's (Stratford, ON) contribution at the net helped the Gryphons launch an early 4-1 lead. However, Western was quick to piece together a comeback to once again regain control of the service at seven. Moments later, Timothy Warnholtz picked up his second of four kills in the set to revitalize the Gryphon momentum and carry his team into the technical timeout ahead 16-11. Under rookie middle, Mike Choja (London, ON) the Western pressure at the net found a consistent rhythm to tie the game up at 17. But despite this last second surge from the Mustangs, the Gryphons reopened their lead to seal the second 25-21.
In the third, the Mustangs took an early 4-1 lead. But with a revitalizing kill from Rosser the team managed to cut the lead to one and steal the momentum. The Mustangs remained determined to stop the Gryphon comeback with great blocking from Chris Lam (Markham, ON) and Choja to push ahead 15-11. However the Gryphons were able to cut the lead to two at 16-14. And, with four unanswered points, the Gryphons found themselves down by one at 21-20. Phil Wessle (Cambridge, ON) and Kyle Richards (London, ON) threw up the combined block to tie the game at 24 after being down two. The Mustangs jumped on a quick Gryphon miscue to regain a 26-25 lead only to once again relinquish the lead, and with it their momentum following an Andrew Whittaker (Sharon, ON) kill. And with back-to-back Warnholtz kills, the Gryphons took a 30-29 lead. Rosser then sealed the win with a kill to earn the hard-fought 31-29 victory.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
RMC @ Toronto
Fifth-year right side hitter Mitchell Woodside tallied 12 kills in his final home game in leading the Varsity Blues men’s volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-20) win over the RMC Paladins on Sunday afternoon at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
The Blues (7-11) end the regular season in a tie for sixth place with the Ryerson Rams (7-11). The two teams went 1-1, both winning their matches 3-2. The tiebreaker then moves to point differential in head-to-head competition, where Ryerson wins on account of 205 points to Toronto’s 203.
The seventh-place U of T will travel to face the second-place Waterloo Warriors (14-3) in OUA quarter-final action on Saturday, February 16 at 7 p.m.
A native of Clyde River, P.E.I., Woodside was honoured in a special pre-game ceremony as U of T’s lone graduating player. He added seven digs, two blocks and two aces to his game-high 12 kills.
RMC was led by Thomas McMullen’s (Ottawa) nine kills in the loss.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Windsor @ Waterloo
The Waterloo men's volleyball team dropped their second straight game for the first time this year to close out their 2012-13 season as the Windsor Lancers swept the Warriors 3-0 (25-14, 30-28, 25-21) on Sunday afternoon at the PAC.
It was the final regular season home game for two Warriors as Hussein Abdo (Ottawa/Warriors) and Corey Yednoroz (Windsor/Warriors) were honoured for the commitment and dedication to the Waterloo men's volleyball program. Both Abdo and Yednoroz started for Waterloo and put together strong numbers as Abdo collected 31 assists while Yednoroz was stellar leading all players with 15 kills. Yednoroz also added five digs and three blocks.
Leading the way for Windsor was Kyle Williamson (Essex) and Adam Thompson (Portage) who each had 12 kills. Setter Andrew Chelladurai (London) collected 34 assists in the Lancer victory.
With the loss Waterloo finished the season with a 14-4 record, good for second overall in the OUA as the Western Mustangs also dropped their Sunday afternoon match. The No. 2 McMaster Marauders were also handed a loss on Sunday, their first of the season.
The Warriors will now prepare for their OUA quarter-final match as they host the seventh seed Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, February 16 at 7pm.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
