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CIS women's volleyball Sunday roundup: Tigers hand No. 2 Huskies first loss
Photo courtesy of Nick Pearce
| Memorial | 3 | Acadia | 2 | Final | Box Score |
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WOLFVILLE, NS - The Acadia volleyball team took one step forward and one step back in their travel for post season play. Grabbing the first of two matches this weekend against the Memorial Sea-Hawks - 3-2 in Saturday's match-up, the Axewomen allowed Memorial to win the second, fourth and final sets to take a 3-2 win in the weekend's second and final match. Head Coach Joffre Ribout was happy and cautious with yesterday's win. "After a great start we were able to fight hard through the last four sets. Memorial came back and pushed us from the brink but we were able to battle back from our mistakes and their tough play to get the win". The story was similar today but this time the Axewomen were on the losing end of a tight match. Taking the lead for the entire first set, Acadia captured a convincing 25-19 win with each of the starting hitters posting a kill and Alyssa Berry leading with three. Out to quick 8-3 lead, the Axewomen eventually loss control when Sea-Hawk Chantel Jones recorded two kils to give Memorial a 22-19 lead that turned into a 25-21 win to tie the match at one. A neck and neck battle followed in set three where only a maximum of three points separated the teams throughout the game. The set was decided on an attack error, giving Acadia a 28-26 win and 2-1 lead heading into the fourth game. With a 16-9 lead, the Sea-Hawks were only challenged in the later stage of the fourth set when the Axewomen blessed with several Memorial attack errors and a timely service aces by Alyssa Berry and a Kristen Bolduc kill that brought the Axewomen to within five points. The Sea-Hawks would take the fourth set 25-19 and push the fifth and final set to 17. Players of the game this past weekend include Saturday's Subway Player of the Game Meg Rector and today's Sea-Hawk Chantel Jones. Jones psoted an impressive 0.344 hitting percentage and match high 16 kills while Axewoman Nicole Davidson added 14 kills to Acadia's 47. Teammate Kristen Bolduc added 11. Memorial's Erin Bursey and Sam March had 14 and 15 kills respectively and setter Beth Forsey had 55 sets on the team's 60 kills. The Axewomen slip from fourth to sixth in the standings with a 5-9 record and 10 points, while Memorial edges forward with 12 points and in fourth place. The StFX X-Women's win against UNB today pushes the X-Women ahead of Acadia into fifth. Acadia has three games remaining that include StFX and Cape Breton next weekend and wrapping up the regular season at home versus StFX on Sat. Feb. 11. Source: Acadia Sports Info
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| Cape Breton | 3 | Moncton | 1 | Final | Box Score |
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It was a superb weekend for the Cape Breton University Capers women’s volleyball team who closed out a New Brunswick road trip with a 3-1 (27-25, 25-21, 16-25, 27-25) victory over the Universite de Moncton Sunday. The win improved the Capers to 10-4 on the season and clinched them a playoff berth in the AUS championship tournament. Vanessa St. Georges led the Capers attack with 13 kills and five blocks. St. Georges, an AUS first team All Star last season, currently sits second in the conference in kill percentage at 3.46 per game and first in block percentage at 1.29 per game. Erica Dowling had 11 kills, 12 digs and a pair of aces for the Capers while Chantelle Zawila chipped in with nine kills, a pair of aces and a block. Stephanie Legace led Moncton with 20 kills while Joline Richard added 14 kills and 17 digs in a losing cause. CBU will return home this Saturday for a 2 p.m. start at the Sullivan Fieldhouse against the Acadia Axewomen. Source: Cape Breton Sports Info
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| StFX | 3 | UNB | 1 | Final | Box Score |
| Dalhousie | 3 | Saint Mary's | 1 | Final | Box Score |
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HALIFAX, N.S. - The Dalhousie Tigers women's volleyball team, ranked tenth in the country, handed the CIS No. 2-ranked Saint Mary's Huskies their first loss of the regular season Sunday afternoon with a 3-1 victory at the Tower in Halifax in front of over 300 fans. After dropping the first set by a score of 14-25, the No. 10-ranked Tigers swept the next three games by scores of 25-9, 25-20, 25-22. Raeesa Lalani led Dalhousie with 13 kills and eight digs, while rookie Maggie Li had 11 kills and a game-high 15.5 points. Louise Facca added 10 kills and eight digs for the Tigers, who improved to 11-3. Dalhousie is now two points clear of the third place Cape Breton Capers (10-4) and move to within two points of Saint Mary's (12-1) for first in the conference. For the Huskies, Ariel Smith had 12 kills and eight digs while two-time AUS most valuable player Kerri Smit had 10 kills and nine digs in the loss. The Huskies have four matches remaining in the regular season while Dalhousie and Cape Breton each have three left. All three squads have already clinched a berth in the 2012 Subway AUS women's volleyball championship, scheduled for Feb. 17-19 in Moncton.
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| York | 3 | Western | 0 | Final | Box Score |
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LONDON, Ont. – In their last regular season at home showing of the season, Western’s women’s volleyball team lost three straight sets this afternoon to the No. 9 nationally-ranked York Lions. Set scores were 16-25, 20-25 and 15-25. Western and York traded kills and digs in a battle of long rallies in the first set. At the technical timeout, Western was behind by four with a score of 12-16. York only allowed Western another four points as they rallied to the end winning the set 25-16. Brandie Wilkerson had seven kills for York in the set. The second set saw the Mustangs come out strong with a solo block from Rebecca Oxland and cross-court and line kills from Serena Smith. The Mustangs held a three-point advantage at the technical break with five unanswered points and two aces from Maria Krahn. The Lions fought back, turned the match around and took the set 25-20. A wave of defensive errors from Western and carefully placed serves from York setter Gina Morphy allowed the Lions to go up 8-0 in set three. Western could not make up the points and York won 25-15. Smith, a first-year left side hitter with the Mustangs had six points (6 kills, 10 total attacks, 1 dig). OUA points leader Brandie Wilkerson led the York Lions with 14 points (11 kills, 3 aces, 3 digs). The Mustangs also honoured graduating player Christie-Lee Wilson at today’s game. Over the past four years, Wilson has had 47 kills, nine aces and 15 solo blocks for a total of 75 points. Western travels to Kingston next weekend, February 4 and 5, for games against Queen’s and RMC. Source: Western Sports Info
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| McMaster | 3 | Windsor | 0 | Final | Box Score |
| Sherbrooke | 1 | Montreal | 3 | Final | Box Score |
| Laval | 3 | McGill | 0 | Final | Box Score |
| Ryerson | 0 | Ottawa | 3 | Final | Box Score |
OTTAWA - In order to keep pace with the second-place Queen’s Gaels, the Gee-Gees women’s volleyball team needed to win the Jan. 29 match against the Ryerson Rams at Montpetit Hall. And uOttawa got the job done, despite some nervous moments in the early goings. After a 3-0 sweep of the Rams, the Gee-Gees are now once again tied with Queen’s for second place in the OUA with an 11-5 record.
Early in the match, the Gee-Gees lacked rhythm on offence, as their disorganized attacks were easily returned by the Rams. However, uOttawa was just a little bit better than the Rams in serving and blocking, which allowed them to take an early 12-8 lead. Second-year LS/RS Karina Krueger Schwanke (Blumenau, Brazil) had the first memorable kill of the match with the score at 17-13, which led to a Ryerson timeout. The Rams actually took a late 25-24 lead after a 5-0 run, but uOttawa regrouped just in time to win 27-25.
“I think the match was won in game one, where we weathered the storm. They were at game point, and we found a way to finish. I said to my team after the game that if we come out exactly the same in game two, I think we’ll dominate. And that’s what we did,” said Gee-Gees head coach Lionel Woods.
The Gee-Gees stepped up their intensity in the second set, taking a 14-1 lead, thanks to strong serving by second-year LS/M Myriam English (Orleans, Ont.). Ryerson made a comeback attempt late in the set, but uOttawa was able to close it out 25-17, with fourth-year middle Kathryn Weihrer (Ottawa, Ont.) delivering the final blow.
Once again, the Gee-Gees jumped out to a big 8-1 lead in the third set, with their offence finally in sync. Third-year setter Christina Grail (London, Ont.) had two of her patented off-speed kills, while Schwanke impressed the fans with her hustle on defence. The Rams did not go down without a fight, however, as they came back to take an 18-16 lead. Despite the slight setback, the Gee-Gees eventually outplayed Ryerson down the stretch, and won 25-22.
“Everyone was consistent for most of the game. We had pretty good passing, but we just let up a little bit at times. But overall, it was a good team effort, and no one ever gave up,” said Grail.
“It wasn’t a pretty match, but we looked mature out there. Ryerson is going to take a real shot at making the playoffs, no question. I think they were one of the most improved teams we’ve seen all season,” said Woods.
After the weekend split, the Gee-Gees still control their own destiny in terms of earning a first-round playoff home game. The Gee-Gees will now welcome the Lakehead Thunderwolves to Montpetit Hall on Feb. 2.
Source: Ottawa Sports Info
