January 21, 2008
MCMASTER TAKES WIN AGAINST WATERLOO IN A BATTLE FOR FIRST IN THE WEST
McMaster 3, Waterloo 1
The surging McMaster Marauders women's volleyball team picked a great time to get hot as they head down the final stretch of the regular season. They extended their winning streak to three games by defeating the Waterloo Warriors 3-1 on Saturday, moving into a tie for first place in the OUA West in the process.
Thanks to a timely home win (27-25, 25-18, 24-26, and 25-18) over Waterloo the Marauders and the Warrirors now share identical 11-3 records to lead the OUA West. The teams split their season series with each claiming victories at home.
Waterloo's big guns came out firing in an attempt to slow down the Marauders. Bojana Josipovic and Gaby Lesniak combined for 26 kills and 42 points as part of a Warrior offense that landed 53 kills to McMaster's 46. Jara Brunt was involved in most of the plays accumulating a game high 32 assists.
McMaster hung on to win the first and third sets by a hair (27-25 and 26-24) before putting the game away in the fourth frame (25-18). Jennifer Holt (Hamilton, ON) set things up with 28 assists getting help from Laura Cobb (Chatham, ON) with 9 assists. The Marauders kept with the winning formula spreading out their offense, which came in the form of 11 kills and 16 points from Sarah Kiernan (Hamilton, ON), as well as 12 points apiece for Kaila Janssen (Whitby, ON) and Sarah Masterton (Pickering, ON) amongst others.
With a mostly favourable schedule leading into the playoffs, McMaster is poised to stay amongst the elites in the OUA. If all goes well they could threaten to enter the CIS top ten rankings for the first time. There are currently two OUA East teams ranked. Toronto is #9 with just one more win than McMaster and Ottawa is #10 even though they have one less win than the Marauders.
Western 3, York 1
The Western Mustangs played patient and fundamentally strong volleyball en route to a 3-1 victory (27-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-15) over the York Lions at Alumni Hall on Jan. 18.
With the win, Western improves to 9-4 and moves past McMaster for second place in the OUA West behind first-place Waterloo (10-2). York drops to 7-5 with the loss.
York jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the opening set, thanks in large part to the play of former Western student Chelsea Thomas (Port Colborne, ON) who was a menace at the net.
But Western climbed back into the game, reducing the score to 11-8 despite great defence by York libero Antonia Stathakos (Brampton, ON) who prevented several Western attempts to gain the lead.
An ace by Sara Farell (London, ON) pulled Western within one point and then the Mustangs tied the game at 15 after a double-hit by York.
York maintained a one-point lead as the teams exchanged serves, but the Mustangs tied the game again at 19.
As Lauren Willoughby (Unionville, ON) served, Western took the lead at 20-19, then a Farrell kill gave Western the 22-19 lead.
The teams played a see-saw battle through the rest of the set, with a Jacqueline Robinson (Vancouver, B.C.) kill making it 23-22.
York briefly took the set lead before Farrell tied the game once again at 25.
The Mustangs closed out the set when Elaine Screaton (Calgary, AB) made it 26-25 with a strike over the net and then Willoughby overpowered the Lions with a monster kill to close out the set, 27-25 in favour of Western.
York opened the second set on a 3-0 run, eventually taking an 8-1 lead. But Western pulled within one at 15-14 and 22-21 before the Lions pulled out to win the set 25-22.
But the extensive rallying in the opening two sets eventually caught up to York and the team looked fatigued in the third and fourth sets making a number of uncharacteristic errors.
Western began the road to receovery immediately in the third opening the frame with a 4-1 lead. The Lions pulled back with in two at 12-10 and tied it at 19, but Western scored five unanswered points before Robinson nailed a powerful kill to win the set.
York opened up a 4-1 lead to start the fourth set.
After a dramatic rally, Western pulled back within one point at 6-5. Willoughby's powerful kill made it 9-8 for York. Western tied the game at 12 after another unforced York error.
Western briefly took leads of 13-12 and 14-13 before building a 17-13 cushion. A Willoughby kill was blocked and went out of bounds to give Western the 18-14 lead. A double-hit call against York gave Western the 20-15 lead, then a Willoughby block made it 21-15 and Screaton followed it with an ace.
An unforced York error returning a serve set up match point with Screaton serving and an illegal carry call gave Western the win 25-15.
OTHER SCORES:
January 16, 2008
RMC 0, Queen's 3
January 18, 2008
Waterloo 3, Guelph 1
Laurier 2, McMaster 3
York 1, Western 3
Toronto 3, Windsor 0
January 19, 2008
Queen's 3, Ryerson 2
Brock 3, Lakehead 0
Waterloo 1, McMaster 3
Toronto 3, Western 2
York 3, Windsor 1
Laurier 3, Guelph 2
January 20, 2008
RMC 0, Ryerson 3
The surging McMaster Marauders women's volleyball team picked a great time to get hot as they head down the final stretch of the regular season. They extended their winning streak to three games by defeating the Waterloo Warriors 3-1 on Saturday, moving into a tie for first place in the OUA West in the process.
Thanks to a timely home win (27-25, 25-18, 24-26, and 25-18) over Waterloo the Marauders and the Warrirors now share identical 11-3 records to lead the OUA West. The teams split their season series with each claiming victories at home.
Waterloo's big guns came out firing in an attempt to slow down the Marauders. Bojana Josipovic and Gaby Lesniak combined for 26 kills and 42 points as part of a Warrior offense that landed 53 kills to McMaster's 46. Jara Brunt was involved in most of the plays accumulating a game high 32 assists.
McMaster hung on to win the first and third sets by a hair (27-25 and 26-24) before putting the game away in the fourth frame (25-18). Jennifer Holt (Hamilton, ON) set things up with 28 assists getting help from Laura Cobb (Chatham, ON) with 9 assists. The Marauders kept with the winning formula spreading out their offense, which came in the form of 11 kills and 16 points from Sarah Kiernan (Hamilton, ON), as well as 12 points apiece for Kaila Janssen (Whitby, ON) and Sarah Masterton (Pickering, ON) amongst others.
With a mostly favourable schedule leading into the playoffs, McMaster is poised to stay amongst the elites in the OUA. If all goes well they could threaten to enter the CIS top ten rankings for the first time. There are currently two OUA East teams ranked. Toronto is #9 with just one more win than McMaster and Ottawa is #10 even though they have one less win than the Marauders.
Western 3, York 1
The Western Mustangs played patient and fundamentally strong volleyball en route to a 3-1 victory (27-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-15) over the York Lions at Alumni Hall on Jan. 18.
With the win, Western improves to 9-4 and moves past McMaster for second place in the OUA West behind first-place Waterloo (10-2). York drops to 7-5 with the loss.
York jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the opening set, thanks in large part to the play of former Western student Chelsea Thomas (Port Colborne, ON) who was a menace at the net.
But Western climbed back into the game, reducing the score to 11-8 despite great defence by York libero Antonia Stathakos (Brampton, ON) who prevented several Western attempts to gain the lead.
An ace by Sara Farell (London, ON) pulled Western within one point and then the Mustangs tied the game at 15 after a double-hit by York.
York maintained a one-point lead as the teams exchanged serves, but the Mustangs tied the game again at 19.
As Lauren Willoughby (Unionville, ON) served, Western took the lead at 20-19, then a Farrell kill gave Western the 22-19 lead.
The teams played a see-saw battle through the rest of the set, with a Jacqueline Robinson (Vancouver, B.C.) kill making it 23-22.
York briefly took the set lead before Farrell tied the game once again at 25.
The Mustangs closed out the set when Elaine Screaton (Calgary, AB) made it 26-25 with a strike over the net and then Willoughby overpowered the Lions with a monster kill to close out the set, 27-25 in favour of Western.
York opened the second set on a 3-0 run, eventually taking an 8-1 lead. But Western pulled within one at 15-14 and 22-21 before the Lions pulled out to win the set 25-22.
But the extensive rallying in the opening two sets eventually caught up to York and the team looked fatigued in the third and fourth sets making a number of uncharacteristic errors.
Western began the road to receovery immediately in the third opening the frame with a 4-1 lead. The Lions pulled back with in two at 12-10 and tied it at 19, but Western scored five unanswered points before Robinson nailed a powerful kill to win the set.
York opened up a 4-1 lead to start the fourth set.
After a dramatic rally, Western pulled back within one point at 6-5. Willoughby's powerful kill made it 9-8 for York. Western tied the game at 12 after another unforced York error.
Western briefly took leads of 13-12 and 14-13 before building a 17-13 cushion. A Willoughby kill was blocked and went out of bounds to give Western the 18-14 lead. A double-hit call against York gave Western the 20-15 lead, then a Willoughby block made it 21-15 and Screaton followed it with an ace.
An unforced York error returning a serve set up match point with Screaton serving and an illegal carry call gave Western the win 25-15.
OTHER SCORES:
January 16, 2008
RMC 0, Queen's 3
January 18, 2008
Waterloo 3, Guelph 1
Laurier 2, McMaster 3
York 1, Western 3
Toronto 3, Windsor 0
January 19, 2008
Queen's 3, Ryerson 2
Brock 3, Lakehead 0
Waterloo 1, McMaster 3
Toronto 3, Western 2
York 3, Windsor 1
Laurier 3, Guelph 2
January 20, 2008
RMC 0, Ryerson 3
