CIS women's volleyball Sunday roundup

Jill Blanchard led the team 26 of the team's 68 kills, being named the player of the game for UNB.

Head coach John Richard gives the Axewomen more credit than the standings show.

"I wouldn't say they're the second worst team in the conference," said Richard. "They have nine losses, six in the fifth set, so personnel wise they're as good as a lot of teams. The difference between us and them is we've won more of those five setters."

Richard continued, discussing how their execution just was not there and losing Monica Jones was a huge loss.

"Our execution level was not very good. It was ugly at times, but credit to Acadia, they played well," he said. "It was a little traumatic when Monica Jones went down and did her knee again. That was a shock to our team. I was proud of our girls and how we pulled it out in the fifth."

Losing Jones is a big hit to this roster, especially as her return this season does not look promising.

"She has to be further evaluated this week, but I don't think she's coming back anytime soon," said Richard. "It's tough. She's our captain and a real vocal presence out there for us. She brings a lot of energy and other girls are going to have to step up for sure.

After their hard fought match against Acadia and losing Jones, the weekend's toughest test came Sunday as UNB took on the first place Saint Mary's Huskies, with a chance to tie the Huskies with a win.

The Varsity Reds opened with a 25-16 first set win, with SMU taking the next two sets (25-20 and 25-21), for a 2-1 lead. A tight fourth set followed with UNB going down three points early, coming back to take the lead.

UNB fifth year left side player Erica Hay stepped up for the Varsity Reds helping to lead them to a 25-21 fourth set win, setting up a second straight fifth set finish.

"I thought she was average last night," said Richard. I felt pretty confident she would come back with a good game today and that is exactly what she did."

After a good start to the fifth set the hopes of a comeback win were squished by the Huskies with a close final set loss of 16-14.

Richard discussed the importance of this game, considering these teams are considered to be two of the best in the conference.

"They're a good team with two really good left sides. It doesn't take much to change the dynamic for sure. Again we were down 2-1 and showed a lot of composure to battle back in that fourth set so losing 16-14 in the fifth set, there's no shame in that. We knew coming in we would be matched closely so this just shows how close we will be for the remainder of the season."

The next action for the women's volleyball team is Jan. 15 at home against the Dalhousie Tigers.

Source: UNB Sports Info

"RMC is a solid team they've been improving; we certainly expected it to be a better match than recent years," said Gee-Gees head coach Lionel Woods. "I thought our girls really approached it with some consistent intensity which was evident by the scores of the first two games."

In the first set, first-year M/LS Kayla Bell-Hammond, North Gower, Ont., went on to serve 11 straight serves, including two service aces, to help her team to a strong 25-14 finish. Fifth-year setter Tess Edwards, Kanata, Ont., also added three service aces for the cause.

The second set saw Edwards continue her accurate serving, starting off the game with 12 consecutive serves to help her team to a 12-0 lead, which would soon progress to a compelling 25-3 win over the Paladins. Edwards finished the day with a total of 6 service aces, as well as 17 assists, 2 kills and 7 digs.

First-year twin sisters Kelsie and Myriam English, Ottawa, Ont., also continued to demonstrate their powerful hitting abilities, along with third-year middle Kathryn Weihrer, Ottawa, Ont., as they lead the team in kills.

Stepping in for veteran setter Tess Edwards in the third set was first-year setter Christina Grail of London, Ont. Grail did an excellent job leading things on the court, amassing a total of 11 assists.

"She has been outstanding in training right now and has really gone to another level," Woods explained. "We're excited about her next year being the lead setter. She offers us a lot of confidence as a back-up."

"What I really like about Christina's play is she's very aggressive in terms of our offence," continued Woods. "She forces things to make them happen; she doesn't just do safe things. That's her strength and that's what she does really well."

Fourth-year libero Claudia Seguin, St-Pascal Baylon, Ont., was named Gee-Gees Player of the Game for the second time this weekend, while RMC's Chelsey Litzens picked up the honour for her team.

The Gee-Gees will be back at home next weekend when they welcome the Brock Badgers (8-4 OUA) on Saturday, January 15 at 5:00 p.m. at Montpetit Hall.

Source: Ottawa Sports Info

The win was the second of the season for the Gaels over the Thunderwolves and tenth in a row over the squad from Thunder Bay, Ont.

After a sluggish start to the match for Queen's, the Gaels picked up their play in the third and fourth sets to put away a tough Lakehead side.

Along with Matthews, Colleen Ogilvie of Calgary, who started the match on the right side for the Gaels, had a strong match picking up 10 kills. Natalie Gray of Oshawa, Ont., had another good match for Queen's recording 14 kills.

Vanessa Chorkaway of Lively, Ont., was the top performer for the Thunderwolves, registering 12 kills in the match while Jorie Daymond of Banhaven, Ont., also reached double digits in kills with 11.

Statistically, the Gaels topped the Thunderwolves in a number of key categories including hitting percentage (24.4% to 5.7%), service aces (13 to 4) and solo blocks (9 to 6).

Queen's will be back on the court next weekend when they wrap up their eight game homestand against the Waterloo Warriors and the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Gaels host Waterloo on Saturday afternoon beginning at 12:00 pm and battle the Golden Hawks Sunday afternoon, also at 12:00 pm. Both games will be played at the Queen's Athletics and Recreation Centre.

Source: Queen's Sports Info