CIS women's volleyball Friday roundup: Dinos knock off No. 2 Spartans

The StFX X-Women volleyball team finished their home court schedule on a winning note in AUS regular season action with a 3-1 victory over the Acadia Axewomen Friday evening at the Oland Centre. The victory officially clinched StFX a berth in the AUS championship.

The teams split the first two sets, with the X-Women earning a 25-22 win in the opener. The Axewomen answered with a 25-20 win in the second.

The blue and white wrapped up the victory with 25-19 and 25-14 wins in the final two sets.

Katherine Ryan led the X-Women with 11 kills and 22 digs, while Catherine Thornton 10 kills, 15 digs and four service aces. Sophomore Jessica Roberts also hit double digits in kills with 10.

Freshman Kelsey Wolfenden chipped in seven kills and 13 digs.

The Antigonish tandem of Heather Isenor and Maria Dunphy contributed 12 and 27 digs, respectively. Isenor, a fourth-year setter, added 33 assists.

For the Axewomen (5-10), Alyssa Berry scored 13 kills and 22 digs, while Lauren Carter amassed 34 assists and 21 digs.

Pamela Giordani added 28 digs for the visitors.

The blue and white have won two matches in a row, finishing with a 5-4 regular season record on home court.

With the win, the X-Women move to 7-8 on the AUS season with 14 points. They are in sole possession of fourth place in the conference and have officially secured their berth in the AUS championship, slated for February 17-19 in Moncton.
 
StFX returns to action this Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. when they face the second place Dalhousie Tigers (11-3) in Halifax.

Source: StFX Sports Info

WATERLOO, ont.- The Waterloo Warriors put forth a valiant effort against the top women's volleyball team in the province on Friday night but the York Lions prevailed handing the home side a 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-21) loss.

Melissa Humana-Paredes (Toronto) led the Lions to victory with 11 kills while adding nine digs in the win.  For the Warriors, Laura Klein (Kitchener) equaled Humana-Paredes' kill count with 11 but it wasn't enough to give her team the advantage.

York improved to 14-1 on the season and sit atop the OUA standings four points ahead of Ottawa.  Waterloo's record dropped to 6-10 on the season good for 12 points and two points back of the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Warriors gained the early first set advantage as Danielle Kamps (Vineland Station) would serve five straight to give her team an 11-6 lead.  York responded with their own 5-0 run and the score was notched a 14's midway through the set.

The two squads would battle back and forth before Humana-Paredes would wisely use the Warriors block to give her Lions a slight 23-22 lead.  After a side out by the Warriors, the Lions would earn two straight points off of setter Tisha Rouse's serve ( Brampton, Ont.) to capture the opening set 25-23.

York would continue to show the more experience in the second set with timely digs and presence at the net as they would cruise to the second set victory 25-18.

The Lions continued their momentum into the third set digging everything that would come their way and putting away key kills and taking advantage of Warrior mistakes.  Beata Dye (North York, Ont.) would then put away two service aces and the Lions would continue their dominance at the net to take the third and final set 25-21.

Adding to the York attack was Thinesa Sriskandarajah (Scarborough, Ont.) who tallied nine kills in the match while Brandie Wilkerson (Brampton, Ont.) showed off her powerful left hand swing with seven kills.  Rouse gathered a total of 33 assists in the win.

For the Warriors Klein picked up 12 points while Oksana Kozak (Mississauga) chipped in with five kills.  Setter Kayla Ng (London) dished out 18 assists in the loss.

Waterloo turn their attention to Lakehead who are in town to face the Warriors tomorrow evening at 6pm.  That game can be seen live on the Streaming Sports Network (SSN Canada).

Source: Waterloo Sports Info

The University of Guelph women's volleyball team kept their playoff hopes alive tonight (Feb. 3) with an important 3-0 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues at the W.F. Mitchell Athletic Center.
 
Set scores were 25-20, 25-14 & 25-16.
 
The win advances the Gryphons to 7-9, while Toronto falls to 10-5 in OUA standings.
 
The first set saw the Gryphons start quickly jumping out to an early 7-1 lead and holding it through the technical time out at 16-9. From there, the teams sided out regularly and Toronto could get no closer than four, as Guelph won 25-20.
 
A fast start again and strong serving in set two, enabled Guelph to keep the pressure on Toronto as they pulled away for a 25-14 win. More pressure serving to start the third set allowed the Gryphons to play from in front the whole way in taking the set and the match at 25-16.
 
"This was our best match in 3 weeks in terms of executing at a high level over numerous sets,” said Coach Paul Funk. “We also followed our game plan much more closely today than we have in the past and had more variety in attack which helped us tonight."
 
Brooke Lloyd led the Guelph offense with 17 points (16 kills, 1 block) followed by Erinn Bickle with 13 (11 kills, 1 ace, 1 block) and Devon Jones with 11 (7 kills, 4 aces).
 
The Gryphons will conclude their home schedule tomorrow with Senior Night against the York Lions starting at 6pm. 

Source: Guelph Sports Info

Hamilton, Ont. - The McMaster women's volleyball team continued their extended win streak in the second half of the regular season with a five-set win over the Brock Badgers on Friday night at Burridge Gymnasium. Set scores in favour of the Marauders were 18-25, 25-21, 25-15, 20-25, 15-6.

Up 2-1 in sets, the Badgers forced the fifth set with a 25-20 win. In the fifth, the Marauders dominated, earning their tenth win of the season. With the win, McMaster is currently tied for fourth place in the OUA standings with Toronto. With just two games left in the regular season, the Marauders will look to secure a home playoff game going into the post season.

With a number of Marauders contributing, it was Kailee Stock that had a game-high 20 points with 16 kills, an ace and three blocks. Rookie Lauren Mastroluisi was also a factor in McMaster's win with 13 kills and 12 digs for the Marauders. Shannon McRobert added eight kills and five blocks, libero Meagan Nederveen recorded 16 digs and setter Amanda Weldon earned 42 assists on the night.

For Brock, Rachel Roorda and Lauren Stirling recorded 15 points each, Lucy McLay added 11 more and Jennifer McKenzie earned another 10 points.

The Marauders spend their last weekend of the regular season on the road against some tough competitors, taking on the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday and the division leaders, the York Lions on Sunday afternoon.

Source: McMaster Sports Info

The visiting UBC Okanagan Heat made quick work of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies with a 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-20) Friday night at the PAC in Saskatoon.

Myrte Schon was impressive on the night tallying a match-high 15 kills and six digs for the Heat. Katy Klomp added another seven digs and one solo block.  Lenai Schmidt recorded 13 digs, while setter Chandler Proch had 28 assists.

Outside hitters Candace Hueser and Alex Van Dyke provided the bulk of the Huskies’ offence combining for 23 of the teams 42 kills in the match. Erin McGladdery led the Huskies with 12 digs and Erin Foster recorded 28 assists.

The Heat jumped ahead 5-2 in the first set forcing the Huskies to take a timeout. Saskatchewan crawled back into the game after the break matching the Heat point-for-point. But on a kill by Schon, the Heat pulled ahead 24-22 –the biggest lead since the first few points of the set. Schon ended the set 25-23 after her attack sailed off the Huskies’ blockers.

Saskatchewan took the 15-14 lead after the UBCO were assessed a yellow card in the second set. The card seemed to light a spark under the Heat who scored the next four points. But a Hueser kill turned the momentum back to Saskatchewan who tied the game at 19. The two matched each other point for point until Jill Festival and Klomps led UBC Okanagan to the 26-24 win.

Although the Huskies jumped ahead 7-4, UBC Okanagan pulled back in the game with a five-point service run by Proch. The Heat were the first to the technical timeout but the momentum swung in the Huskies’ favour recording the next four points including two service aces. UBCO wasn’t going to give up and after tying the game at 19 out scored the Huskies 6-1 for the 25-20 win.

With the win, the Heat improve to 4-13, while the Huskies are still in search of their first win at 0-17.

The two teams will meet again Saturday night at the PAC. Match time is 6 p.m. It can be watched on www.canadawest.tv

Source: Saskatchewan Sports Info

CALGARY – After dropping the first set 25-18, the unranked Calgary Dinos roared back in the second and held on to upset the No. 2 Trinity Western Spartans in four sets (18-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-12) Friday night in the Jack Simpson Gym.

Calgary jumps ahead to 9-8 with the victory, while the loss drops the Spartans to 12-5. Both have three matches remaining in the conference season.

“It was a solid team performance tonight,” said first-year Dinos head coach Natalie Schwartz. “Different people stepped up in key moments, whether it was rookie Emma Pedersen blocking their top middle or Melanie Miazga with a huge kill. We were relentless, regardless of the score or outcome of the rally.

“We got a taste of what we're capable of tonight, but it was only a taste – it left us hungry for more tomorrow and the rest of the season.”

The Dinos served aggressively on the night, recording 11 aces against the Spartans' one – with both setter Sarah Lacny and left side Lindsey Doland pounding three hard serves into the floor on the Trinity Western side. Calgary committed just four service errors on the night, while the Spartans sent 10 serves into the net or out of the court.

The Spartans asserted control early, with Amy Leschied and Royal Richardson recording seven kills each in the opening set as the visitors rolled to a 25-18 win. Calgary responded in the second and, after leading 16-10 at the technical time out, took a tight set 25-23 after neither team performed particularly well in the frame offensively.

The third opened with a 5-0 run for the Spartans and they led 16-15 at the break – but that's where the match turned. Calgary closed the set with a 10-2 run, running away with it 25-18 to take the match lead. And in the fourth, things couldn't have gone better for Calgary or worse for Trinity Western. The Dinos jumped out to a 7-4 lead and, three aces out of four points from Doland later, it was 11-4 and the rout was on. The Spartans hit just 9.4 per cent in the fourth set, compared to an outstanding 38.5 per cent for Calgary as the Dinos salted away the upset win.

Richardson finished the night with 19 kills for the Spartans, with Leschied adding 17 – but most of their damage came in the first set when they combined for 14 kills, adding just 22 more through the final three frames. Leschied added 10 digs and a pair of blocks for Trinity Western, while Alicia Perrin was the next Spartan on the kills list with six.

The Dinos, on the other hand, got 13 kills from Sarah Moncks and 11 from Miazga, who added six blocks to her stat line on the final home weekend of her CIS career. Andrea Price chipped in with eight kills and a match-high 12 digs, while Doland added six kills to go with 10 digs on the night.

Calgary will look to clinch a playoff spot Saturday night when they host the Spartans in the rematch on Seniors' Night in the Jack Simpson Gym. First serve goes at 6 p.m. MT, live on CanadaWest.tv.

Source: Calgary Sports info