CIS women's volleyball Friday roundup: Spartans sweep No. 2 Pandas

WOLFVILLE, NS - The Acadia Axewomen lost their first game of 2012 in a 3-1 match loss to the Moncton Aigles Bleus. The loss drops the Axewomen to 3-7, while Moncton improves to 3-7, creating a three-way tie for sixth place between Moncton, Acadia and Memorial.
 
The Axewomen played a strong first set that saw them take a commanding 14-5 lead. The Axewomen would hold onto their lead for the entire set, finishing the first game 25-17 in their favour. The Aigles Bleus, however, would go on to win three sets in a row to lock up their first win since their last meeting against the Axewomen on November 20th in Moncton, ending a three game losing streak.

The second set saw a close see-saw battle between the Axewomen and the Aigles Blues with the score in a constant deadlock until a 21-21 tie was broken by an Acadia attack error followed by an service ace by Moncton's Genevieve LeMay and a kill by Player of the Game Stephanie Lagace. The second set ended with a Moncton block by Lagace.

Behind 18-12 in the third set, Acadia made a strong effort to claw back from a six point deficit that saw them tying the game at 19. Despsite the Axewomen’s effort, Moncton would pull out a 25-21 win that started with a Lagace kill at 20-19.

The fourth and final set played out much like the second set, with a close see-saw battle being played out between the Axewomen and the Aigles Bleus. Unfortunately, the fourth set would indeed play out like the previous second set with Moncton taking the final frame 25-20.

The Axewomen out-hit Moncton 147 to 138 with a kill advantage of 51-43, but fell short on the score board giving up 25 attack errors along with nine service errors. Axewoman Kristen Bolduc had a hitting percentage of 0.421, while teammate and Acadia's Subway Player of the Game, senior outside hitter Alana Murphy had a game high 15 kills.

The Axewomen will take the weekend off as they prepare for a road game next Friday against the CIS #9 Dalhousie Tigers who will seek revenge for a 3-0 loss against Acadia before the Christmas Holidays. The Tigers' loss to Acadia on November 25, bumped Dalhousie off of the CIS Top Ten, but they resurfaced after the break . Dalhousie currently has a record of 7-2 and are second in the AUS standings.

Moncton returns home tonight to host the CIS #3 Saint Mary's Huskies who hold onto first place in the AUS standings with a 9-0 record.

Source: Acadia Sports Info

Following a rocky start to the new year, the Cape Breton University Capers women's volleyball team found their way back into the win column in style Friday night at the Sullivan Fieldhouse.
 
In front of a boisterous home crowd, the Capers upset the CIS No. 9 ranked Dalhousie Tigers in straight sets, 27-25, 25-20, 25-20.
 
The homeside fell behind early, spotting the Tigers an 8-1 lead in the opening set before battling back and taking an edge they wouldn't relinquish.
 
Vanessa St. Georges, an AUS all-star last season, led the Capers, recording 15 kills and a pair of blocks.
 
2011 all rookie team member Erica Dowling and freshman Katelyn Costa added seven kills apiece for the Capers. Megan Brown was named the Eastside Mario's Player of the Game after registering six kills for the winners.
 
Maggie Li and Tara Gowan finished with seven and six kills respectively for the Tigers, who lost all-star Marlee Powers to a knee injury in the second set.
 
CBU, now 7-3 on the season and in second place in the AUS, will travel to Antigonish Sunday for a 2 p.m. start against the StFX X-Women.

Source: Cape Breton Sports Info

WATERLOO, Ont. - The women's volleyball team ended a seven game losing streak on Friday night in a straight set victory over the Windsor Lancers at the Physical Activities Complex in Waterloo.
 
The black and gold got a boost from a pair of rookies as Natasha Spaling (Drayton) and Oksana Kozak (Mississauga) who led the charge with eight and seven kills respectively while teaming up for a combined 16 digs.
 
The Warriors dazzled the boisterous hometown crowd as part of Warrior night to pick up their fourth win of the season.  Waterloo is now 4-7 on the season while Windsor fell to 2-10.
 
The opening set saw the Warriors take control early and set the tone for the match as Kozak led the charge with thunderous kills.  Waterloo would lead the set from start to finish en route to a 25-18 win.
 
The second set saw the Lancers battle back as third year outside hitter Kaila Seguin (Windsor, Ont.) would respond with several kills of her own but the Waterloo defense would answer the call.  Libero Katie Spack (Ottawa) was stellar on defense with 14 digs in the match and Waterloo would take the second set 25-20.
 
Waterloo would close out the match in the third and final set thanks to some skillful serving by Kozak.  With the score tied 13-13 Kozak would step up and earn five straight points on her serve to give Waterloo an 18-13.  Windsor would fight back to within three but the black and gold would shut down any comeback attempt and cruise to a 25-19 set win.
 
Warriors setter Mikaela Klie (Cambridge) would finish the match with 17 assists while Kayla Ng (London) took the role of outside hitter in the match finishing with four kills, seven digs and seven assists.
 
Windsor was given a balanced attack in the loss with Seguin as the top point getter at seven.  Setter Jessica Shepley chipped in with 11 assists in the loss.
 
The Warriors look for their fifth win tomorrow night as they welcome the Western Mustangs to the PAC for a 6pm match. 

Source: Waterloo Sports Info

TORONTO - The York University Lions women's volleyball team became the first team in the OUA with 10 wins with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Ottawa Gee-Gees at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Friday night (Jan. 13).
 
The Lions and Gee-Gees made up two of the top four teams in the OUA heading into the match and the two squads played a hard-fought back-and-forth affair that featured several lead changes.
 
With the win, the Lions increased their lead in the OUA standings to four points and clinched a playoff spot. The loss for the Gee-Gees dropped them to 7-4 on the year and are tied with Brock and Western for fourth place in the standings with 14 points.
 
Second-year outside hitters Brandie Wilkerson (Brampton, Ont.) and Melissa Humana-Paredes (Toronto) continued their tremendous seasons with 14 points apiece to lead all Lions. Wilkerson had 13 kills and added seven digs, while Humana-Paredes recorded 14 digs and two service aces.
 
Thinesa Sriskandarajah (Scarborough, Ont.) led all Lions with 23 digs, while setter Tisha Rouse (Brampton, Ont.) had a game-high 32 assists.
 
The leading point-getter on the night was Ottawa's Karina Krueger-Schwanke with 17 points, while libero Claudia Seguin had a game-high 29 digs.
 
After the Lions won the first point, the Gee-Gees raced out to an early lead but the Lions came back to tie it 9-9. The Gee-Gees again turned up the head and took a five-point advantage, but the Lions closed it again and Ottawa led by just one – 16-15 – at the first technical timeout. They stretched their lead once again to 20-15 before the Lions came all the way back to win the first set 25-22.
 
Despite winning the first set the Lions looked nervous in the second and the Gee-Gees took advantage. The set was never close as they earned a 25-9 win to even the match.
 
The Lions quickly put the ugly second set behind them and roared out to an early lead in the third, at one time as big as eight points at 13-5. The Gee-Gees continually tried to tie the set and got as close as one point back, but the Lions pulled away again and took the set 25-21.
 
The fourth set played out similar to the third, with the Lions taking an early lead and the Gee-Gees trying to counter. Once again they got as close as one point but were unable to tie the set and the Lions took it 25-19 for the win.
 
The Lions face another tough challenge in their next game on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 15) against the Queen's Gaels, who are currently tied for second place in the OUA standings with 16 points. The contest will begin at 12pm and will be followed by the two men's teams facing off at 2pm.

Source: York Sports Info

HAMILTON, Ont. - Kailee Stock (Newmarket, Ont.) was named the Big Mac Player of the Game for her performance in McMaster's take down of the visiting Royal Military College's Paladins. Set scores in the three-set win were 25-18, 25-16, 25-20 in favour of the Marauders.
 
In the first, the Marauders took an early 4-0 lead forcing RMC to call a timeout. McMaster continued to build a large lead in the first set and the score would read 11-4 after Lauren Mastroluisi (Ancaster, Ont.) made good use of a block for a point. A step around kill from Shannon McRobert (Whitby, Ont.) would later send both teams to the bench for the technical timeout where McMaster lead by 10 points at 16-6.
 
After the timeout, the Paladins strung together some points of their own in an attempt to mount a comeback and they would get within five before McMaster put another point on the board. Stock would serve a few for McMaster to regain their 10 point lead and the Marauders would close out the first set 25-18.
 
Both teams would battle it out early in the second set but McMaster would build up a slight lead of three points and maintain that throughout the beginning of the set. Some tough serves from rookie Mira Krunic (Oakville, Ont.) would allow the Marauders to pull away with an 11 point lead at 15-4.
 
After the technical timeout. despite RMC's best efforts to come back, big kills from McRobert in the middle and Mastroluisi at left side would seal the deal in the second set as the Marauders cruised to victory 25-16. Stock would already have nine points in her favour going into the third.
 
The Paladins would take an early three point lead at 7-4 at the beginning of the third set but the Marauders would tie it back up at seven later on. RMC would gain back a lead of two points up until the technical timeout at 16-14 with a hit from outside hitter Danielle Vortisch (Whitby, Ont.) of the Paladins.
 
McMaster would finally tie it back up at 17 with a kill from Stock and following that, a block from setter Amanda Weldon (Hamilton, Ont.). The Marauders would keep the lead until the end of hte match, ending the final set with a kill from rookie Mastroluisi.
 
Stock would record a game-high 14 points, which included 11 kills, two aces and a block. Rookie Mastroluisi added another eight kills for the Marauders and veteran McRobert earned six kills, and ace and two blocks for nine points.
 
For the Paladins, Big Mac Player of the Game for RMC, Melissa McCoy (Kingston, Ont.), recorded 12 kills. Mallory Litjens (Ottawa, Ont.) added another eight kills for the Paladins and Brianne Baum (Penetanguishe, Ont.) recorded 26 assists.
 
The Marauders continue their Marauder Weekend with a game against the Queen's Gaels Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. 

Source: McMaster Sports Info

GUELPH, Ont. – The University of Guelph women’s volleyball team dropped a five setter to Western tonight at the W.F. Mitchell Athletic Center. Set scores were 25-16, 25-27, 22-25, 27-25 & 11-15.
 
 The first set was Guelph’s best on the night as they play steady volleyball consistently siding out to win 25-16. The match turned in the second set though as the Gryphons were in control almost the whole way before allowing Western to mount a comeback to steal the set at 27-25. Western turned up their defense in set 3 frustrating the Guelph offense with numerous digs on route to winning 25-22. Western had an early lead in set 4 and looked to be on the way to sealing the match but the Gryphons fought back from a 17-12 deficit to eventually win 27-25. The fifth set tight until the change over, but Western crept ahead and 12-10 and held on the win the set and match at 15-11.
 
 “We are very disappointed with ourselves tonight,” said Gryphon head coach Paul Funk. “We felt we were in control of the match in the second set but let them off the hook and it ended up costing us in the long run. We have been in every match we have played this year but we have to have more of a killer instinct when we have a team on the ropes.”
 
 The Guelph offence was led by Taylor Crown with 17 points (15 kills, 2 blocks) followed by Stephanie Vickers with 14 (12 kills, 1 ace, 1 block).
 
 The Gryphons home weekend continues tomorrow with another tough opponent in Ottawa. Game time is 6pm.

Source: Guelph Sports Info

SASKATOON - The No. 4 ranked University of Winnipeg Wesmen made quick work of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-17) victory Friday night at the PAC in Saskatoon.
 
With the win the Wesmen improve to 11-3 on the season, while the Huskies (0-11) are still in search of their first victory of the season.

Winnipeg jumped out to a quick lead in all three sets that the Huskies just couldn’t overcome.  The Wesmen took a 6-1 lead to start the first set, a 9-2 lead in the second and 6-1 in the third set.  The closest Saskatchewan was able to come in any of the three sets was within two in the first set after a Alex Van Dyke kill froze the Wesmen back line. But a Huskie service error gave the ball right back to the Wesmen.

Lauren Sears compiled a match-high 16 kills for the Wesmen and Ozana Nikolic added another nine. Brittany Habing tallied 31 assists, while Tesca Andrew-Wasylik had a match-high seven digs. Sears was also strong on the net with three solo blocks and three block assists.

Candace Hueser led the Huskies with eight kills on the night, Alex Van Dyke added another six.  Erin Foster dished 15 assists and added five digs. Kayla Tycholiz had a solo block and three block assists to lead the Huskies on the net.

The two teams meet again Saturday at the PAC. Match time is 6 p.m. and will be webcast on www.canadawest.tv.

Source: Saskatchewan Sports Info

REGINA - The sixth-ranked University of Manitoba women's volleyball team took a three-set win over the Regina Cougars on Friday night in a Canada West match at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
 
Manitoba improves its conference record to 8-3, while the Cougars fall to 2-11 on the season.
 
Regina was impressive in the early stages of the opening set, forcing a Manitoba timeout after jumping out to an early 8-4 lead. But that timeout appeared to settle the Bisons, as the visitors scored the next four points to tie the game and took control of the set with a 5-0 run around the media timeout.
 
Manitoba had an early 7-1 run in the second set and never looked back, seizing control of the match with a 25-13 win. The third set was closer, but the Bisons scored three consecutive points after the set was squared at 18 apiece and held off the Cougars for a match-clinching 25-22 victory.
 
Fifth-year outside hitter Kristi Hunter had a fine game for Manitoba, leading all players with 13 kills and hitting at a .367 clip in the victory. Tricia Mayba had a match-high .692 hitting percentage for the Bisons, while Christina Souza had 28 assists and 16 digs and Jordana Milne had five block assists.
 
Meagan Onstad led the Cougars in both kills (10) and digs (9), while Tiffany Herman had 30 assists and matched Rebecca Rink with eight digs.
 
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at the CKHS following the conclusion of the men's match.
 
NOTES: Rink registered her 600th career dig in the first set, becoming the fifth Cougar to hit the milestone since the rally-point era started in 1999.

Source: Regina Sports Info

LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 8 ranked Trinity Western women’s volleyball team knocked off No. 2 Alberta 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-22) Friday night at the David E. Enarson Gymnasium.

With an emotionally charged crowd behind them, the Spartans got off to a fast start in the first set and then utilized a monumental second set comeback – one that saw the Spartans rally from a 15-6 deficit to win 25-22 – to pull ahead 2-0 and then again rallied in the third set to earn the victory.

The Spartans were led by Kelci French, who had seven service aces, to go along with a team-high eight digs and 11 asssists, Royal Richardson, who had 10 kills and three blocks, and Alicia Perrin, who had six kills and five blocks. French’s seven aces is the second most in a single game in Spartans history. It is only bettered by Lies Verhoeff’s 10 against Winnipeg Nov. 30, 2002.

Alberta was led by Alena Omelchenko, who had 10 kills and two aces, and Alyssa Jones, who contributed nine kills and four digs. Whitney Matheson had a game-high 10 digs.

The win improves the Spartans record to 8-3 while Alberta drops to 7-4 on the season.

“I thought we served well tonight,” said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer. “I don’t think our serving was particularly tough but we found the right people at the right time. But it got them into a little bit of trouble and it forced them to play the ball. Then we got our block and our defence to pick it up and transitioned.

“It’s pretty loud and pretty intense in that gym. I’ve got a headache because I’ve been yelling the whole game. But it’s a nice factor to be in a home crowd and just have that energy. We feed off of it and it’s a lot of fun.”

Riding the wave of a boisterous Enarson, the Spartans got off to a fast start as they staked themselves to an early 8-3 lead. Sparked by a kill from Richardson, the Spartans took a 2-2 game and turned it into an 8-3 lead, forcing Alberta into an early timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Spartans built their lead to 11-5 before the Pandas started clawing back. Trailing 15-11, Alberta went on a quick 3-0 run to get within one point, 15-14, but in the end that was as close as the Pandas would get.

With Trinity Western up 19-17, the Spartans went on a 3-0 run of their own to open a five-point lead and from there, the Spartans held on for a 25-21 win.

The Pandas were plagued by serving errors as they had seven serving errors in the first set.

In the second set, the Pandas came out the aggressors as they raced to a 6-1 lead and, this time, forced the Spartans to take the early timeout.

Alberta continued to push their lead out of the timeout, opening as much as a 15-6 advantage.

But the Spartans wouldn’t go down without a fight in this set as they crawled back via a 6-1 run to get back in the set at 16-12.

The Pandas maintained a four-point lead up until 20-16 but then the Spartans took off on what would turn out to be a 9-2 run that completed an improbable comeback.

The Spartans took their first lead of the set, at 22-21, after a service ace by Amber Brown, and then opened up their first two-point advantage of the set, at 24-22, after a block by Nicole Bazin before a Bazin kill gave the home side the set.

The difference in the set proved to be blocking as the Spartans had three blocks to the Pandas none.

The third set started much like the second set as the Pandas took the early advantage, opening a 6-2 lead before the Spartans, like the second set as well, replied in emphatic fashion.

With French at the line and contributing a pair of service aces, the Spartans went on a 6-0 run to give Trinity Western an 8-6 lead.

The Pandas responded quickly and once again possessed the lead at 14-12 after back-to-back aces from Lia Stang. They then built their lead to a three-point edge at 17-14.

But then, once again, it was an unstoppable French at the service line doing the damage for Trinity Western as she helped the Spartan take off on a 6-0 run, with four of the points coming by way of service aces.

The Spartans continued to ride that momentum through the latter stages, opening its biggest lead of the set at 22-18. The Pandas got to within two, 22-20, and then again at 24-22, but an Alberta attack error gave the Spartans the win, at 25-22.

The teams will meet in a rematch Saturday night at 5:00 p.m. at the David E. Enarson Gymnasium.

Game Notes – The Spartans had nine blocks to Alberta’s three…TWU had 11 aces to Alberta’s eight…TWU hit .210 while Alberta hit .149.

Source: Trinity Western Sports Info