W-VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: Guelph wins in 5 sets against Queen's on Senior Night
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues were forced to a fifth set for the first time this season and came out on top, defeating the Ryerson Rams 3-2 (25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 15-13) in a thrilling OUA women's volleyball match on Friday night (Feb. 6) at Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Queen's 2 @ Guelph 3 (Saturday)
On a night when the Gryphons celebrated the careers of seniors Becky Breau, Jennifer Johnstone & Katelyn Larson, the University of Guelph women's volleyball team won a five set thriller defeating the Queen's Gaels 3-2. Set scores were 25-22, 28-30, 20-25, 25-13 & 15-7. The Gryphons jumped out to an early lead in the first set leading 8-3, but Queen's narrowed the gap to a single point at the technical timeout. The teams battled back and forth before a Shannon Morelli kill finished the set with a 25-22 win.
Set two started evenly but Queen's forged a 16-12 lead at the timeout. Guelph managed to tie things up at 19 and from there the teams took turns siding out until the Gaels finally prevailed at 30-28. The third set saw the Gryphons fall behind early down 6-1 but they battled back to even the game at 18 all. From there, a 7-2 run gave Queen's the set at 25-20. Guelph started set four jumping out to an eight point lead but the Gaels chipped it down to 4 before the Gryphons took control of the set winning 25-13. Guelph started the fifth set with a big lead at the switch at 8-2. Queen's had a small run to get within 3 but the Gryphons pushed through down the stretch winning the set and match at 15-7.
Coach Funk stated, "We wanted to have a playoff mentality going into the match tonight and we fought hard against a great defensive team. We got great contributions from our bench tonight including Victoria Golebiowski who had a great rebound match. We will need to get a similar group effort in our quarter final match next week." Becky Breau led the Guelph offense with 22 points (18 kills, 2 aces, 2 blocks) followed byShannon Morelli with 17 (10 kills, 7 aces) while Kristen Almhjell led the defense with 29 digs. The Gryphons will host a first round quarter final match against the Brock Badgers next Saturday at 6pm with a berth to the OUA Final Four on the line.
Friday, February 6
Ryerson 2 @ Toronto 3
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues were forced to a fifth set for the first time this season and came out on top, defeating the Ryerson Rams 3-2 (25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 15-13) in a thrilling OUA women's volleyball match on Friday night (Feb. 6) at Mattamy Athletic Centre.
With the win, the Blues, who are tied with the Alberta Pandas as the No. 1 nationally ranked team in the country, improve to 18-0 and remain atop the OUA East standings.
"We demonstrated great resilience today," said Varsity Blues head coach Kristine Drakich. "Ryerson capitalized on some opportunities in the third and played very well. We stayed on course and rose to the challenge in the end."
Down 3-0 early in the fifth set, the Blues came charging back and both teams remained tied at 13-13. U of T hammered out the win with a final kill from Charlotte Sider to seal their 18th consecutive victory.
Fifth-year left side hitter Charlotte Sider notched a game and season-high 22 kills, while adding nine digs and one ace.
Third-year standout Caleigh Cruickshank followed suit, recording a career-high 21 kills and team-high 13 digs on the night, while veteran Jennifer Neilson also added a career-high 17 kills, 12 digs and four blocks.
Sophomore middle Tessa David had seven kills and four blocks, while Madelyn Mandryk tallied a career-high 54 assists. Denise Wooding added 12 digs in the victory.
Queen's 3 @ McMaster 0
Friday was an uncharacteristic night for the Marauders. Sluggish and out of sync from the opening whistle, McMaster dropped its first match of the new year -- and its first home game of the season -- in straight sets to the Queen's Gaels.
Their steady, defensively-responsible play earned the Gaels (12-6) a win by a 25-22, 25-20, 25-17 scoreline, in game that sealed their hold on the fourth and final playoff spot in the OUA East division. Meanwhile, the loss will have no effect on the playoff standing of the Marauders (14-4) -- who locked up top position in the OUA West a week ago -- but undoubtedly dampens the mood at season's end.
Joanna Jedrzejewska put up another solid statistical night, with game highs of 13 kills and 14 points for the Marauders in a losing effort. On the other side of the net, middle Katie Hagarty was an efficient 8-16 hitting and added two aces and a block and a half for 11.5 points.
McMaster struggled to pass and stay in their offensive system throughout the match, and their team hitting percentage of .098 spoke to that difficulty. Despite the one-sided nature of much of the match, the Marauders pieced together an encouraging run to close the gap in the second set, and threatened to level the match. But the Gaels found the means to get to the finish line in the second, and comfortably saw out the third set to complete the sweep.
RMC 0 @ Guelph 3
The University of Guelph women's volleyball team swept the RMC Paladins 3-0 for their 10th win of the season Friday night at the W.F. Mitchell Athletic Center. Set scores were 25-19, 25-17 and 25-16. With the win, the Gryphons improve to 10-8, while RMC falls to 2-16.
The Gryphons jumped out to a quick five point lead early which they maintained to the technical timeout. The lead expanded to 8 later before RMC closed the gap to four, but a Shannon Morelli kill finished the set at 25-19. Set two followed a similar script with Guelph opening up a lead before RMC fought back in the middle of the set to trail by four. After the timeout, the Gryphons stretched their lead again finishing at 25-17. The third set was close early on with the teams tied at 11, but Guelph managed to build a lead before a Jennifer Johnstone ace finished the match at 25-16.
Coach Funk said, "We had to play hard the whole time as RMC scrambled well and refused to quit. Cayte Wilson set a good match in her first start and some other players did a good job coming into the match as well." Madison Dedecker was Guelph's top scorer with 17.5 points (14 kills, two aces, one block) followed by Rebecca Breau with 12 (11 kills, one ace) while Kristen Almhjell contributed 15 digs on defense. The Gryphons will wrap up their regular season tomorrow with Senior Night against the Queen's Gaels at 6pm.
Note: the Gryphons first-round opponent in the OUA playoffs has already been determined – they will host the Brock Badgers in an OUA quarterfinal matchup on Saturday, February 14th at 6pm.
Waterloo 2 @ Lakehead 3
Source: Lakehead Thunderwolves
Saturday, February 7
Ottawa 3 @ Toronto 2
The No. 1 University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team suffered their first loss of the season, dropping a 3-2 (25-18, 27-25, 16-25, 23-25, 12-15) decision to the No. 7 Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 7) at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
The Blues end the regular season with an 18-1 record, in first place in the OUA East division. The Varsity Blues await the final OUA regular season games to determine whether they face the Queen's Gaels or Ryerson Rams. The top seeded Blues will host the No. 4 seed next Saturday, February 14 in OUA quarter-final action at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
Fourth-year middle Bojana Radan led the Blues with 10 kills, eight blocks and six digs, while fifth-year veteran Jennifer Neilson had 12 kills, two aces, two blocks and 10 digs. Charlotte Sider added 10 kills and 13 digs, recording her 1200th career point (regular season & playoff) on the day. Denise Wooding notched a season-high 26 digs, while Maddy Mandryk tallied 36 assists and 11 digs in the loss.
Toronto got out to an early 6-1 lead and built a 12-5 advantage thanks to back-to-back aces from Neilson. Kelsie English rallied the Gee-Gees to keep it close and Toronto took a 16-11 lead at the break with a big block from Radan. Both teams traded points but a final kill from Cruickshank sealed the first set 25-18 as the Blues handed Ottawa their first set loss of 2015.
The Blues found themselves up 8-2 to start the second set, but Ottawa came back again. The game went back-and-forth and another block from Radan gave U of T a 16-9 lead at the second set break. Late in the set, Kelsie English came up with four-straight aces to give the visiting team a 25-24 lead, but Sider came up with three big kills to earn the 27-25 second set win.
The third set saw the Gee-Gees come out firing, building a 7-3 advantage. The Blues kept it close but an Ottawa ace gave the Gee-Gees a 16-10 lead at the technical timeout. A final kill from Alix Dunivage gave the Gee-Gees the 25-16 third set win.
The fourth set was a neck-and-neck battle as Toronto built a narrow 16-15 lead at the break. Tied 20-20, Ottawa went on a 4-0 streak to force the fifth set with a 25-23 win.
Kelsie English led all players with 18 points, notching nine kills, seven aces, two blocks and 17 digs. Myriam English added a game-high 15 kills and added 15 digs, while Kaly Soro had 13 kills and 15 digs in the victory.
GAME NOTES: Varsity Blues women's volleyball honoured graduating players Bojana Radan, Sarah Chapin, Jennifer Nielson and Charlotte Sider in a special pre-game ceremony before taking on Ottawa.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Western 3 @ York 1
The York University Lions women's volleyball team lost in four sets against the Western Mustangs on Saturday (Feb. 7) at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
The Lions won the first set 25-20, but Western came back to take the second 25-19. They then cruised to the third set win, at 25-11, and won the fourth 25-22 to take the match.
The loss dropped the Lions to 9-9 on the year, and they have already been eliminated from the playoffs in the tough OUA East Division. The Mustangs, meanwhile, improved to 6-12 and kept pace with the Windsor Lancers for the final playoff spot in the OUA West.
The Lions had a nervy start to the game as they trailed 7-2 before the timeout. Mimi Demski(Etobicoke, Ont.) subbed in and aided the Lions to reduce the deficit at 9-6.
The set was tied at 12-12 through an attacking error by the Mustangs, and at 15-15, the Lions won a long rally after defending well.
Towards the end of the set, the Lions looked in control as they concluded with a 25-20 win.
At the start of the second the Lions started out slow again. Brittney Hopley (Thornhill, Ont.) andVeneta Mincheva (Gatineau, Que.) inspired the Lions to take the lead at 10-7 before the Mustangs called a timeout.
However, the Mustangs managed to catch up midway through the set as the game remained deadlocked until the end. A series of miscommunications handed the Mustangs a 25-19 win.
The visitors completely dominated the Lions' defence in the third set with a 25-11 win. Kelsey Veltman had the highlight of the game as the rookie stunned the Lions with a powerful spike to an open space.
Despite trailing in set wins, the Lions kept pressuring the opposition at the fourth set. Mincheva gave the Lions an early lead with an impressive spike for a kill.
Both teams had equal opportunities throughout the set as the match remained tight. The Mustangs found a breakthrough after capitalizing on several attacking errors by the Lions as they lead 20-15.
The Lions relentlessly attempted to catch up with the Mustangs at 22-20. Hopley timed a perfect jump for a sensational block to give the Lions a point at 22-21. However, the Lions were unable to best the Mustangs as the visiting team won the final set at 25-22.
The Mustangs' Veltman ended the game with a game-high of 23 points and 15 kills. For the Lions, Mincheva achieved 15 points and 10 kills, as well as four service aces. Michelle Pierce(Windsor, Ont.) contributed 12 points on nine kills, two blocks and one service ace.
Windsor 3 @ Nipissing 1
The Nipissing Lakers have had a lot of positives this season – their first OUA win, on two occasions having a winning record and beating a team that was ranked in the top 10 in the CIS.
There have also been some challenges along the way, but their latest loss can be considered a lot of bad luck.
The Lakers fell 3-1 to the Windsor Lancers Saturday afternoon in their second last home match of the season.
After winning the first set, the Lakers came up short in three straight, but the loss wasn't without controversy.
Two controversial calls late in the match took away points from the Lakers and handed them to the Lancers.
While they weren't the points that necessarily determined the match, they did have a huge impact on the final few plays of the game and gave the win to Windsor.
Brittany Ardron had seven kills and five blocks in the match, while Christina Caruso added seven kills of her own.
Tracy Hammerton and Annabelle Harvey chipped in with six kills each.
The Lakers will now have to regroup and focus on Sunday's match as they entertain the Western Mustangs in the final match of the season.
Nipissing will celebrate their two senior players, as Brittany Ardron and Victoria Taylor will play their final matches as members of the Lakers.
RMC 1 @ McMaster 3
After losing its first home game of the OUA season on Friday, the McMaster women's volleyball team downed the RMC Paladins 3-1 on Saturday night to end the conference schedule with a win.
It was Marauder Weekend so a healthy contingent of alumni were back to support the team, and it was also Senior's Night as the Marauder Program recognized the four 4th-year and one 5th-year players on the roster.
Perhaps all the hoop-la proved distracting, as the Marauders gave up a late 23-21 lead and ended up dropping the first set 28-26 to the Paladins. McMaster Coach Tim Louks started all five of his seniors in the match and played them for the majority of the first set.
Trailing by a set, McMaster took control of the second set behind some strong serving and much improved passing that saw the Maroon up 16-10 at the technical timeout. The Marauders kept up the pressure and closed out a 25-16 score to even the match.
Coach Louks used some different player combinations, and got solid performances from across the squad.
The third set was all McMaster as the team jumped out to an 11-3 lead as Mira Krunic got on a serving roll. Leading 16-6 at the technical break, it was then Lauren Mastroluisi, who got in a groove from the service line and the Marauders cruised to a 25-11 set win to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
RMC showed it had some fight left in the fourth set and trailed the Marauders 16-14 after going back and forth up to the technical timeout. Not wanting to extend the match any further, McMaster assumed control coming out of the break and dashed to a 25-18 win to take the match. Melanie Walsh served an ace on match point for the win.
Mac was led by Taylor Brisebois who recorded 10 kills in her 17 points, while Mastroluisi had 13 kills and finished with 16 points.
Waterloo 3 @ Lakehead 1
The game served as a preview to next week's OUA quarter-final match to be played at Ottawa's Montpetit Hall on Saturday, February 14 at 2:00 p.m.
Ryerson finishes the season in third place in the OUA east standings with a 13-6 record while Ottawa earned home court advantage by finishing second with a 16-3 record.
The Rams were never able to find a rhythm offensively on Sunday and could muster just 25 kills throughout the match. Veronica Livingston (Kelowna, B.C.) had a team-high ten kills in the loss.
Ottawa's offence is one of the best in the country and the Gee-Gees were efficient in their attack with a 34.5% attack rate, causing the Rams trouble defensively as well. Kelsie English had a match-high 13 kills to pace the Gee-Gees.
In each set the teams matched each other point for point until about the 13-13 mark when Ottawa was able to take over down the stretch.
Sunday afternoon was Senior Day for the Rams as they recognized the careers of Chelsea Briscoe (Georgetown, Ont.) and Lauren Sokolowski (Georgetown, Ont.).
Coach Reid was disappointed the team was unable to give the seniors a better send off in their last game at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
"That's not the way we want to play on senior day," said Reid. "It was disappointing that we didn't have more emotion…and if I'm disappointed it's that they (the seniors) deserve better than what our team brought today.
"I said to them (Chelsea and Lauren) earlier today that they're going to live forever in this program because they're two of the biggest reasons why we've been able to create a program that's centered around being proud and representing Ryerson the way we want to be."
Briscoe finished Sunday's match with seven points to round out her regular season career total at 744 points in the Ryerson uniform.
"I was supposed to go somewhere else and last minute Dustin picked me up and I wouldn't change my decision ever. No regrets at all," said Briscoe while reflecting on her career.
An emotional Lauren Sokolowski had a unique perspective following the game, being the only hold over from Ryerson's 2010-11 squad that went 1-18.
"It's definitely been amazing to be a part of the change. I think the Mattamy Athletic Centre has been a huge factor in that change and being here, seeing the team change that much and being part of that legacy as being the only one left is kind of cool to look back on and see how far we've come."
The Rams will now spend the week preparing for the rematch with the Gee-Gees before traveling to Ottawa for the OUA quarter-final on Saturday, February 14.
The first set was a grueling battle between both sides as the Lancers came back at the end of the set to threaten the Lions lead. The Lancers were able to constantly tie the score, but the Lions held their lead until the score was tied at 21-21. After an attack error from the Lions, the Lancers pushed through to take the lead 22-21. The Lancers reign did not last long as Brittney Hopley (Thornhill, Ont.) smacked down a kill to tie the score at 22-22. With another kill from Hopley and a service ace from Abby Ganzhorn (Markham, Ont.), the Lions were able to squeeze out a 25-22 first set win.
In the second set, Veneta Mincheva (Gatineau, Que.), Michelle Pierce (Windsor, Ont,), Hopley and Ganzhorn took control of the game as they showered the Lancers with kills. The Lancers Emily Durand made an excellent effort to stop the Lions kills as she made 10 digs.
Mimi Demski (Etobicoke, Ont.) made many tricky plays as she volleyed the ball to the player behind her, rather than in front of her, ultimately confusing the Lancers; Demski made nine assists this game.
The Lancers trudged behind in the second as the Lions came out with a big 25-12 win.
The Lions continued to push far ahead of the Lancers in the third set as Cadence Currie (Scarborough, Ont.), Jennifer Black (London, Ont.) Mincheva, Pierce, Ganzhorn and Hopley played as strong unit, working together to win their final game of the season. The Lions ended the third set of the game with a score of 25-14, and an overall score of 3-0.
Graduating players Pierce, Hopley and Black each played an outstanding game as they represented the Lions one last time. Pierce scored the highest number of points for the Lions with 15.5 including 10 kills, two aces, two assists, two digs and six blocks.
Hopely scored 12 points from eight kills and four blocks; and Black led the team with 12 digs.
Mincheva was also a strong leader for the Lions as she racked up 12.5 points from nine kills, three service aces, eight digs and one block.
Leaders from the Lancers side include Shannon Dean with six kills, one ace and one block; Hannah Robson with six kills and two aces and Carleigh Bailey with four kills and one ace.
There would have been no better way to send of the senior players for the Nipissing Lakers women's volleyball and end the season than with a win and the Lakers did everything they could to get one, but came up short.
The Lakers were robbed Saturday against Western and tried to bounce back Sunday afternoon as they hosted the Western Mustangs, but it was the Mustangs who came away with the victory.
Western jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to victories of 25-17 and 25-18, but the Lakers refused to quit.
They came back, fought hard and picked up a win in the third set to extend the match.
The teams went back and forth in the fourth set and it appeared the match would be extended to a fifth and final set, but the Mustangs were able to close things out and walk away with the win in four.
Overall it was a solid effort from Nipissing – not only Sunday, but also on Saturday's controversial match.
Tracy Hammerton led the Lakers with 10 kills, Annabelle Harvey had eight and Victoria Taylor had six.
Brittany Ardron picked up 12 points thanks to four kills, four aces and four solo blocks.
The Lakers finished the season with a 5-14 record, but took huge strides in the right direction in just their second season in the OUA.
Despite losing two senior players, the program is poised to make some noise moving forward with a solid core returning next season.
Source: Nipissing Lakers
