CIS women's volleyball Friday roundup: No. 1 UBC rolls on with win over No. 5 Winnipeg

The Waterloo women's volleyball team improved to 5-1 at home with a 3-1 (24-26, 27-25, 25-13, 25-21) set victory over the Guelph Gryphons on Friday night in front of a boisterous Waterloo home crowd at the PAC. 

Middle Kristen Sheffield (North Bay) brought here 'A' game leading all players with 15 kills, several at key moments of the game.  Sheffield also added three service aces, three blocks and eight digs in the Warrior win.

In the early going it was all Gryphons as they jumped out to a 15-8 first set lead but the Warriors would claw their way back midway through the set with six straight points off of Kayla Ng (London)'s serve.  The two squads would battle back and forth for the remainder of the set before outside hitter Devon Jones (Rockwood, Ont.) would put away one of her eight kills in the match to give Guelph the 26-24 first set win.

The Gryphons would carry their momentum into the second set thanks to some shifty play by Brooke Lloyd (Whitby, Ont.) who put away several kills to give her team an early set advantage.  Guelph would take control of the second set off some sloppy Warrior play and take a 22-17 lead but a timeout by coach Gaby Jobst gave the Warriors new life.

Laura Klein (Kitchener) would take three straight points on her serve to get Waterloo right back in the set and following several key blocks by Danielle Kamp and Sheffield the score would be notched at 25's.  Sheffield and Oksana Kozak (Mississauga) would go back to back with big kills to give Waterloo the 27-25 second set win.

With the momentum in their favour, Waterloo would walk all over Guelph in the third set jumping out to a 15-3 lead.  Sheffield continued her stellar match with two straight aces late in the set and Waterloo would cruise to the 25-13 set win.

The fourth and final set would see the Gryphons fighting to regain their attack and would take an early 7-5 lead but Kozak would show off her serving skills, tallying six straight points to give her squad an 11-7 lead.

Guelph would shift the momentum back in their favour thanks to the attack by Lloyd and Jones but Waterloo was able to regain the advantage at the net and walk away with the set 25-21 and game 3-1.

Contributing to the Warrior attack was Danielle Kamps (Vineland Station) with 13 kills.  Kamps was a force all game long at the net with seven blocks in the match.  Laura Klein (Kitchener) added 10 kills and three service aces.  Defensively Kozak was stellar with 26 digs while libero Katie Spack (Ottawa) dug the ball 18 times.  Setter Kayla Ng (London) had 40 assists in the win.

As a team the Warriors served lights out with a total of 17 service aces compared to just four for the Gryphons.

Leading the charge for the Gryphons was Lloyd who had 13 kills and 16 digs in the match.  Jones added eight kills while Taylor Crown (Victoria Harbour, B.C.) and Erinn Bickle (Whitby, Ont.) each had seven.    Setter Katelyn Larson had 35 assists in the loss.

Waterloo will enjoy the rest of the week off before returning to action next Friday as they battle the York Lions at the PAC.  Game time is scheduled for 6pm.

Source: Waterloo Sports Info

KINGSTON, Ont. (January 27, 2012) - Natalie Gray of Oshawa, Ont. had a spectacular performance against the Ottawa Gee Geess (10-5), pulling the Gaels (11-5) into second place in the OUA standings. The Gael's won the match in five sets, and were forced to bounce back with a huge momentum building fourth set victory after dropping two of the first three sets to start the night (15-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-12, 15-12).

Gray was the hot hand of the night,  posting a staggering 19 kill and 19 dig effort .This proved to be the turning point of what was a back and forth nail biter at home.  Only Becky Billings of Ottawa registered more digs, with a 21 dig effort on the night.

Shannon Walsh of Kingston, Ont., a vocal leader on the court, would round out the Gael's defensive effort, digging up 16 balls throughout five sets.

“We started out down in just about every set and they kept getting strong runs but we were able to keep coming back,” said Walsh on the win which puts the Gaels in second place in the OUA standings.

“When we were down 2-1 heading into the fourth set we knew that our team needed to bring the intensity and after winning that set we just carried our intensity over to the fifth and were able to take it.

"Our whole team was strong tonight and it helps to have a young group with so much energy that we can then turn into success.”

Laura Carmanico of Ottawa, Ont. led the Gee-Gee's with 12 kills and 14 digs. Only Kelsie English, also of Ottawa Ont., would dig up more balls for the Gee Gees, getting behind 19 balls to keep them in play.

The Gaels play next against the Western Mustangs on Febuary 4, 2012. They will take the court at home in the ARC @ 12pm.

Source: Queen's Sports Info

The No. 6 ranked Manitoba Bisons women’s volleyball team lost against the No. 3 ranked Trinity Western Spartans on Friday, January 27 at the Investors Group Athletic Centre. Manitoba lost 3-1 (22-25, 23-25, 25-15, 23-25) against the country’s third-best team. TWU now extended their winning streak to three matches with the road win.

With the win, Trinity Western improves to 11-4 while Manitoba drops to 9-6 so far this conference season.

Bisons head coach Ken Bentley didn’t waste anytime with the team, calling an early time out in the first set after a 4-1 Trinity lead. Middle player, Trisha Mayba’s and her blocks helped soften Trinity’s hits throughout the set. But Trinity’s outside hitters found their way around the blockers courtesy of Royale Richardson. The Bisons kept Trinity at set point long enough to catch up, but Trinity ended the game with a 25-22 set score.

Amy Leschied forced Manitoba players to hand over easy passes early on in the second set. Bison players urged each other to “keep swinging” and Manitoba gained the lead before setter Christina Souza swung on a second hit. The Trinity players gathered in the middle of the court to talk about the setter’s bag of tricks. The Spartans ran their own plays using Alicia Perrin, who helped Trinity tie the game (20-20) with solid blocks and quick middle hits. Souza’s float serves weren’t enough to close the win, and Manitoba lost a long lead (have the lead as high as high points) and set 25-23.

“Way too many hitting errors,” said coach Bentley.“When we start playing these top teams, we just can’t afford it, so we can’t be generous on our side.”

TWU head coach Ryan Hofer called a time-out after his team trailed 12-6 in the third. The team kept the hits going but the Bison block continued until Hofer called a second time-out at 16-9. Trinity struggled to make run on the Bisons who did a lot less scrambling on their side of the court. The set finished in the hands of Souza again, serving at Winnipeg-born Kelci French, who shanked the serve receive.

“For a bunch of first years, I’m still super proud of what their doing,” said coach Bentley. “They’re playing in new situations obviously, but there’s things you only get from experience. So I’m glad they’re learning this stuff now.

Hofer threw his clipboard at the bench when Trinity libero Courtney Davis and Perrin watched a high free ball drop to tie the forth set 6-6. He mixed up his line-up with two subs but it was still a tight back-and-forth game. Trinity’s biggest lead came at 23-21, but two rallies later outside player Kristi Hunter hit a sharp line on the right side, forcing yet another tie and TWU time-out. Trinity ended the game on a scramble play, causing players on both sides to throw one-handed swings at the ball.

Mayba (10) and Crystal Mulder (11) led the Bisons with a combined 21 kills. Mulder also added to the top digs with 11, alongside Kristi Hunter’s 10 and Christina Souza’s 12 digs. The top swinging Spartans were Leschied with 11 kills and Richardson with 13 kills. The two outside hitters also tallied up the digs with Chelsea Fitchette, passing 39 in total for Trinity.

The two teams meet again on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Source: Manitoba Sports Info

In a battle between the top two teams in the Canada West Conference standings, the #1 ranked UBC Thunderbirds defeated the #5 ranked Winnipeg Wesmen 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 25-17) Friday evening at the Duckworth Centre in Winnipeg.

The victory improves UBC's record to 14-1, Winnipeg with the loss stands at 12-5.

Fifth year left side Kyla Richey led UBC with a match high 17 kills. Shanice Marcelle added 15. Marcelle also led the team with 20 defensive digs and three service aces. Rayel Quiring and Jessica Von Schilling were in on six blocks each. Setter Kirsty Setterlund had 32 assists.

First year left side Ozana Nikolic and third year left side Carleen Kruschel led Winnipeg with 13 kills each. Fifth year middle Lauren Sears had 10 kills and four blocks. Libero Tesca Andrew-Wasylik finished with a match high 23 digs. Setter Brittany Habing had 40 assists.

The teams started the opening set exchanging points with no team leading by more than one point until The T-Birds led at 11-9. UBC carried the lead to the technical break ahead 16-13. The T-Birds built a 24-19 lead late in the set but a determined Wesmen squad staved off three set points to close the gap to 24-22. A kill by Lisa Barclay closed out the set with UBC winning 25-22.

In the second set, UBC scored the first two points but with Ozana Nikolic serving, the Wesmen reeled off five straight points to take the lead at 5-2. UBC was able to regain the lead at the midway point of the set holding a 16-13 lead at the set break. The T-Birds went on to outscore the Wesmen 9-4 down the stretch to win the set 25-17.

Winnipeg came out firing in the third set thanks to timely kills and strong serving. Service aces by Kruschel and Habing helped the Wesmen jump out to a 11-9 lead. After a UBC timeout, the Wesmen with kills by Erika Buchanan, Nikolic and Kruschel and a service ace by Lauren Sears gave the Wesmen a 16-13 lead at the technical timeout. UBC managed to knot the score at 17-17 when Winnipeg reeled off three straight points to take a 20-17 lead on their way to winning the set by a score of 25-19.

After a tight opening fourth set, UBC managed to pull away and hold a 16-11 lead at the technical timeout. The Wesmen fought back to close the gap to 18-16 but kills by Richey down the stretch helped the T-Birds close out the match winning the fourth set 25-17.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at the Duckworth Centre. Match time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Source: Winnipeg Sports Info

EDMONTON - For the second-straight game, rookie outside hitter Alena Omelchenko led the No.4 Alberta Pandas to victory, this time a straight-sets win (25-17, 25-17, 25-21) over the Calgary Dinos, Friday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton.

The Almaty, Kazakhstan native had a game-high 14 kills while Jaki Ellis, hailing from Mississauga, ON, earned a game-high 18 assists.

Fourth-year outside hitter Andrea Price notched 10 kills for the Dinos in the loss with senior setter Sarah Lacny adding 13 assists and two aces.

Lacny's serving skills gave Calgary the early 3-1 lead, but Omelchenko, making her first of a half-dozen kills in the opening set, began a 5-0 run for the home team that gave them a lead they would never relinquish.

Helping Alberta was several attack errors by the Dinos squad, namely a few untimely ones when Calgary was just regaining momentum.

Unfortunately, the second set featured more of the same for the visitors, the Pandas opening up a 12-4 lead before the Dinos fought back to reduce the deficit to two, only to have errors by sophomore setter Jordhynn Guy and fourth-year left side Sarah Moncks aid Alberta back to a six-point lead and more before middle Caitlin Buckell's first kill of the night ended the second set.

In the final set, the Calgary attack shed its troubles and opened with a 7-3 lead, looking to extend the match to four sets, but a quick 6-0 Alberta run, highlighted by some deft Whitney Matheson kills, got the hometown crowd buzzing and paved the way for the Pandas' win.

The 8-7 Dinos and 10-5 Alberta will play their second game of the weekend tomorrow night at 7:30 PM MT, back at the Saville Community Sports Centre. 

Source: Alberta Sports Info

The University of Regina Cougars use 20.5 team blocks to stymie the UBC Okanagan Heat’s bid for a fourth win with a five set victory (21-25, 25-18, 15-25, 25-22, 15-11).

Regina’s middle Michelle Sweeting (2nd year, Maryfield, SK) led her team in kills tonight with 13 and added 11 block assists. Libero Rebecca Rink (5th year, Headingly, MB) led the match in digs, grabbing 22. Setter Tiffany Herman (5th year, Craven, SK) helped her team out with 42 assists, 10 block assists and 1 solo block.

The Heat’s outside hitter Alex Basso (4th year, Kelowna, BC) led the match in kills, smacking 16. Setter Chandler Proch (2nd year, Kelowna, BC) led the match with 47 assists. Middle/setter Kendra Wayling (3rd year, Castlegar, BC) and libero Lenai Schmidt (3rd year, Vernon, BC) each grabbed 15 digs.

The Cougars improve to 3-12 in conference play while the Heat fall to 3-12, both teams will look for their fourth win tomorrow in Saturday night’s match.

The two teams meet again Saturday night at UBC’s Okanagan campus at 6 p.m. The game can be seen live at www.canadawest.tv 

Source: UBC Okanagan Sports Info