CIS men's volleyball Friday roundup

Greg McDonald had a game-high 17 kills, and Luka Milosevic added 16 in the loss for Ryerson, who now face a must-win game against the Toronto Varsity Blues tomorrow afternoon to keep themselves on pace in the playoff race.

was high from the opening serve, as it was clear both teams recognized the importance of a victory. The Lions built a three-point lead early, but some strong net-play by Roman Kabanov (Toronto) helped the Rams weather the storm. The squads went into the first technical separated by just a single point.

Ryerson took their first lead of the set thanks to a couple of blocks by Kabanov and Milosevic, but York was quick to return the favour, streaking for three straight to re-take the advantage. Felipe Humana-Paredes made his presence felt at the net, denying the Rams attack twice to put his team up 16-13 at the second break.

York found some momentum from there, and built a sizeable advantage. Tom Podstawka (Ancaster, Ont.) laid the ball over the Rams line with a tip, and Aurora, Ont. native Marvin Macalino came back on the next play with a block. The Lions would sail from there to draw first blood, winning the opening set 25-20.

The teams were strong to open the second set once again, but Ryerson built a slim lead off of two Chris McLaughlin kills. Macalino tallied a strong block on McDonald, but the former OUA all-rookie found the court from the right side on the following play. Brett Penrose then made a big block from the middle of the net, and York coach Wally Dyba quickly called a timeout to regroup his team.

The Lions still struggled to match the Rams work rate, as libero Anthony Kentris dove for a dig to keep the play alive, allowing McDonald (Thamesville, Ont.) to rip another ball on the Lions court. Setter Aleksa Miladinovic stuffed an attack, and York's next attempt sailed long, giving the Rams a 10-point lead. Milosevic (Toronto) closed out the second with a kill, evening the match at 1-1 with a 25-17 set win.

The Lions jumped out 3-1 in the third off another Macalino ace, but the Rams found their footing, and railed off four straight points. Kabanov's first block of the frame would give the Rams an 8-7 advantage. York began making unforced errors, conceding consecutive points and going down seven at the second technical break.

McLaughlin came out of the timeout with an ace, but their eight-point lead was cut down slightly, prompting coach Mirek Porosa to call another break to re-focus the team. However, the momentum continued to shift York's way, as they cut the deficit to three. It would be as close as they would get, as McDonald nailed two of the last three points to seal the third set 25-21, giving the Rams a 2-1 advantage.

Desperate to keep the contest alive, the Lions came out with more focus in the third, and were rewarded with an early 8-6 lead on the heels of a Sandic ace. The Rams equalized at 9-9, but York quickly tallied three straight to take control of the set once again. Humana-Paredes came up with a big block to extend the lead, and his following kill would take York into the second technical up 16-11.

The Lions momentum was too much for Ryerson throughout the game, and a 25-17 win forced a fifth and deciding set between the two sides.

Gregory Ivan began the final set with a kill, and Humana-Paredes followed that up with a block, giving York an early lead. McDonald got his team back on track, putting his spike off the block and out of play for Ryerson's first point. Kabanov then denied a York attack, bringing Ryerson back in the match. The Lions went up by two, but after a serve error, Milosevic ripped a cross court kill to even the game once again. Kabanov dominated at the net again soon after, blocking a shot down the middle to put the Rams up 5-4. They held an 8-6 lead at the switchover, as both teams traded sides a final time before resuming the final set.

Khalil (Mississauga) found the open court for a Lions point, and they would win the next one as well to lock the match again at 8-8. Both teams showed their nerves a bit, trading unforced errors, and the game remained tied after Milosevic rammed down a kill to bring Ryerson even at 12-12. However, the Lions railed off the next two, giving them a couple of match points. Milosevic saved the first with a kill, but McDonald would put his serve beyond the back-line, handing the concluding set and the match to York.

Kentris earned himself player of the game honours, tallying seven digs for the Rams, who will have less than 24 hours to recuperate for a 4:00 p.m. match with the Varsity Blues (2-8), who will also be vying for a win to keep their postseason hopes alive. You can catch the action live at www.ssncanada.ca.

Source: Ryerson Sports Info

Spencer Leiske and Jay Olmstead led Alberta in kills, each picking up 10, while CIS freshman Mitch Irvine picked up five kills and three aces.

Joel Colter led the Cougars in kills, banking nine, while Leon Dyck had six.

The win improves Alberta to 8-1 on the season, while also giving them 398 conference wins all-time. Head coach Terry Danyluk also picked up his 498 overall win.

With the loss, Regina drops to 1-8 and are now 0-29 against the Golden Bears in program history.

The Cougars opened the match with a 4-1 lead that shrunk to an 8-6 advantage at the first technical timeout. A six point run by the Golden Bears changed their fortunes, giving the home side a 16-12 advantage that the Bears turned into a 25-19 first set win.

In the second set Regina once again opened up with a lead, jumping out to a 5-0 advantage on Alberta, and an 8-4 lead at the first break. Alberta, however, would score 10 of the next 14 total points, overcoming their second slow start to overtake the set at 14-13 midway through. The Bears would go on to record their second straight 25-19 set win following a Leiske kill off the Regina block and out of bounds.

Danyluk, a five time CIS coach of the year, made sure his troops didn't record a third straight slow start as Alberta owned the third set, picking up a team 50% attacking mark to win 25-14. Irvine record two aces in three serves to close out the match.

The two teams will square off again Saturday night in the Main Gym, with a match start of 8:00 pm.

Source: Alberta Sports Info

The visiting University of Manitoba Bisons made quick work of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies earning a 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-21) win Friday night at the PAC in Saskatoon.

With the win, Manitoba moves to 10-1 on the season, while the Huskies fall to 1-9. It was the first Canada West conference men's volleyball action since the holiday break for both teams.

The Bisons went on a 12-3 run to start the first set and didn't look back. Saskatchewan was never able to get close than eight points in the set. Although the Huskies held the Bisons to set point twice, an Adam McTavish service error gave Manitoba the 25-15 victory.

Starting in a similar fashion, the Bisons jumped out to an 11-1 lead in the second set. The Huskies lone point in the run came on a Chris Komishon serve into the net. Once again the early deficit was too much for the Huskies to overcome. Manitoba took the set 25-14.

Manitoba looked to be setting a similar story in the third set when they jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a Komishon serve. But this time, the Huskies were able to get the ball back on a Matthew Busse attack and crawled back into the game at 5-4. Saskatchewan matched Manitoba point-for-point until Dane Pishke and Ryan Munt helped the Bisons pull away with strong attacks. A Pischke attack that the Huskies back row could not dig up gave the Bisons the 25-21 win.

Munt led the Bisons with 10 kills, followed by Pischke with nine and Chris Voth with seven. Geoffrey Zerr and Busse each had six kills for the Huskies. As a team, the Bisons had 12 blocks in the match.

The two teams will battle again Saturday night at the PAC. Match time is 8 p.m.

Source: Saskatchewan Sports Info

The Brandon Bobcats and Thompson Rivers Wolfpack slugged it out for over two hours before the Bobcats put it away on four straight points to end the match, including two service aces by Paul Sanderson. Three of the four sets saw the two teams exchange points numerous times before being settled, but in the end the Bobcats came out on top 3-1 (33-31, 28-26, 28-30, 25-20).

Sanderson, a fifth-year left-side who is on pace to set the all-time Canada West career kills record this season, led the way with 27 kills. Sanderson also contributed six service aces. Fifth-year setter Kyle Dellezay had 46 assists and Shaun Funk added two stuff-blocks and six block assists.

Kevin Tillie helped keep the Wolfpack in it putting up a match-high 28 kills. Casey Knight added 11 kills and Colin Carson had a match-high 49 assists.

The two teams will meet again Saturday at the BU Gym. Match time is 8:00 pm.

Source: Brandon Sports Info