To start the day on Saturday the Desperados cemented a chance at the gold tier with lopsided wins over NVVA (Virginia) and Ocean Gold (Florida). Giving up only 40 points in 4 sets.

The pool would not end as well as boys had their share of struggles, but in the end it proved the old adage that: what matters is when you lose not if you lose. Showing their resilience, they rebounded with big wins when it mattered most.

A loss in their final pool match had them finish second in pool play but forced a must-win cross over to stay in the gold division. The boys handled that pressure situation with ease, rolling over Club Lehigh Grey from Pennsylvania: 25-17 and 25-19. Winning their first match in Sunday’s Power Pool but losing the second to Pittsburgh (16-25, 25-22 and 12-15), meant a tougher route to the final but, as they say, “if you’re going to win, ya gotta beat ‘em all.”

Pre-quarters saw them against Panthers Gold (Minnesota) and that must have set up a subliminal message in the boys as they cruised in this round 25-15, 25-19. On to the quarters and the Long Island club from NYC. This match was a a little tighter but still a straight set win by the Desperados, winning 25-19 and 27-25.

In the Semi-final, the Maverick boys faced a re-match of a recent quarter final loss in the Rochester Can-Am a month ago – the Pace Bootlegger 17’s. This powerhouse from upper NY state, took down the number 1 team in Ontario (Pakmen) in the quarters here at PSU and certainly were a monumental foe for our guys. However, determined to prove that their loss in Rochester had not been a defining moment, they had the drive to take down Pace this time. This one was really a thriller with the US squad winning the opening set 26-24 and the Depserados striking back with a 27-25 nail biter. However it was pretty clear who was moving on, as the team from north of the border blew on to a 15-10 win in the deciding set, and headed to the finals.

In the finals, the Maverick side ended with another three-set match at the end of a long tourney. This is the stuff that tests your mettle as both an athlete and coach. Winning the first 25-21 against 7 Cities from Chicago, the Desperados would feel the heat in the next two. The second set was a real barn burner that had the Windy City crew steal a tight one by two 25-23. So it all came down to one set to 15; after two long days and 21 sets prior, it would be a sprint to the end…or would it? Not to disappoint on Super Sunday, this was a thriller and went overtime. In the end it was “Oh Canada!” and the Maverick Desperados were singing it to a 17-15 winning tune!

Congratulations to Coaches MacLean (Jr), Doyle and Blair along with all the members of the 17u HP Depserados. This is definitely one for the scrapbook!

Story submitted by Kerry MacLean for the Ottawa Mavericks | MaverickVolleyball.ca

The Champions League is a three month tournament which determines the top professional volleyball club in Europe.

Villa Cortese, which is based in Milan, defeated Moscow Dynamo 25-20, 25-18, 18-25, 23-25, 15-12 in a match that lasted nearly two hours.

Pavan, who finished the round robin of the portion of the tournament seventh in league scoring, was her squads top point getter. The two match series concludes next Tuesday in the Russian capital.

In men’s Champions League play, the Arkas men’s volleyball club, which is based in Izmir, Turkey and includes three Canadians, drew first blood in its two-match series against Zaska, Poland on Wednesday.

The Turkish pro squad led by Glenn Hoag of Gatineau, Que., the head coach of the men’s national team, took the match 27-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-23 to improve its overall Champions League record to six wins and a loss.

There are two Canadian national team players on the Turkish squad as well. Justin Duff of Winnipeg played in all four sets and scored five points while Gord Perrin of Creston, B.C., played in the first set and scored three points.

The two teams face each other again next Wednesday this time in Izmir.

Thomas Jarmoc of Edmonton is also in the tournament with Friedrichshafen Volleyball Club in Germany which won its opening playoff match 29-27, 25-18, 25-21 over Tours, France.

Three Canadian national team players are also playing professionally in French Division 1 regular season play. Josh Howatson of Victoria is with Paris Volley which is currently in 11th overall, Nicholas Cundy of Edmonton plays for Cannes sitting seventh and Alexandre Gaumont-Casias of Ville-Marie, Que., is with Turcoing in sixth spot.

For more information on the CEV Volleyball Champions League visit:

Men: http://www.cev.lu/Competition-Area/competition.aspx?ID=548&PID=1117

Women: http://www.cev.lu/Competition-Area/competition.aspx?ID=551&PID=1126

Story from the Volleyball Canada Website | Volleyball.ca

To many Canadians, Hawaii is a desirable holiday destination.

For Stephen Maar, it will be home for the next four years, after the 17-year-old Aurora resident accepted an offer last week to attend the University of Hawaii on a full volleyball scholarship.

The 6-foot-8 outside hitter explained that his desire to be with a winning program swayed his decision to accept the Warriors’ offer ahead of several high-profile suitors.

“The fans are really good, but the main reason is that I think Hawaii has the best chance to win in the next three years,” the Grade 12 student at Bill Crothers Secondary School in Unionville said. “They’re a really young team this year. They’re starting six first-year players, so they’re getting lots of experience. I hope I get some playing time in my first year.”

Because Hawaii does not have pro sports teams from the so-called mainstream sports, the university’s teams are a hot ticket in Honolulu.

Maar, who plans to major in history, also received offers from the University of California Santa Barbara, Penn State, fourth-ranked Stanford and No. 1 ranked Brigham Young.

Maar was named MVP after helping the Aurora-based Storm Avalanche to the Volleyball Canada under-17 championship in May in Abbotsford, B.C. He was also a member of the Storm’s championship team at the under-14 level.

He is playing this season with the Toronto Crush at the under-18 level and recently returned from winning a major tournament in California.

Maar plans to play in the under-19 world beach volleyball championships in Cyprus and try out for Canada’s junior national indoor team.

Story by John Cudmore for TheStar.com.

This past weekend, the Mountain Volleyball Club (MVC) along with the McMaster University D.R.E.A.M.S. program, hosted the 13U Girls Challenge Cup at St. Mary Secondary School.  All proceeds from the tournament went to the D.R.E.A.M.S. projects planned for the 2012 year.

D.R.E.A.M.S., the Dominican Republic Education and Medical Support  group at McMaster, is a student organized trip that travels to the Dominican Republic to build homes and bring medical and educational supplies to the remote villages surrounding the town of San Jose de Ocoa. MVC has worked with D.R.E.A.M.S. in the past, collecting medical supplies at OVA tournaments and then forwarding them via the D.R.E.A.M.S. participants.  This year, McMaster University will be sending two service trips on Reading Week in February and then again in May.

Special thanks to all those athletes and parents that supported the program by purchasing food and drinks from the concession.

Story submitted by Nancy Castura on behalf of MVC.

The Crush Volleyball Club from Toronto, ON won the SCVA 2012 Junior Boys Invitational 18 Open Bid Tournament in Anaheim, California. The event was hosted in the largest indoor sports complex in the world, the American Sports Centre. Home of the Team USA Men’s and Women’s National Teams.

A total of 87 teams participated in the 18U division. Crush was the only Canadian team at the event, joined by teams from California, Hawaii, New York, Illinois, Arizona, and Florida. During the event Crush only dropped one set to 949 18 Black during pool play. From that point on they won every match 2-0. During the Gold Medal Bracket on Monday Crush defeated SPVB B18 Mizuno from Illinois in the quarter final 2-0 (25-20, 25-15), last year’s champions Balboa Bay 18 Hurley from California in the semi-final 2-0 (25-15, 25-20) and MVVC Red 18 from California in the final 2-0 (25-20, 25-19).

The tournament win qualifies Crush for U.S. Nationals in Dallas, Texas July 1-9, 2012.

Story submitted by Josh Nichol.

The Champions League is a three month tournament which determines the top professional volleyball club in Europe.

The Turkish pro squad defeated CKSA Sofia from Bulgaria in its final round robin match 25-17, 25-23, 25-19 and advanced to the round of 12 for an encounter against Zaksa Kedzierzyn of Poland. Perrin was the top scorer in the match with 16 points while Jason Haldane, a former Canadian national team player from Terrace, B.C., replied with 12 for Sofia.

Hoag, in his second season at the helm of the Azmir, led his troops to a 5-1 mark in the round robin.

Meanwhile Steve Brinkman of Bowmanville, Ont., who surpassed the 200-match plateau with the Canadian national team last summer, is also headed to the Champions League playoffs with Trentiono Planet Win365 in Italy after an easy win over Cai Teruel from Spain. Brinkman contributed five points in the victory.

Thomas Jarmoc of Edmonton, a member of Friedrichshafen Volleyball Club in Germany, scored five points to help his squad qualify a spot in the round of 12.

Adam Simac of Ottawa and Dan Lewis of Oakville, Ont., members of ACH Volley in Slovenia just fell short of advancing finishing third in their pool.

In the women’s Champions League, Canadian national team star Sarah Pavan of Kitchener, Ont., continues to shine with her pro club Villa Cortes and is headed to the round of 16. Pavan is currently seventh in league scoring and also ranks seventh in spiking.

The playoff rounds start on January 27.

For more information on the CEV Volleyball Champions League visit:

Men: http://www.cev.lu/Competition-Area/competition.aspx?ID=548&PID=1117

Women: http://www.cev.lu/Competition-Area/competition.aspx?ID=551&PID=1126

Story from Volleyball.ca

The Ryerson Rams women’s volleyball team spent a week in Agua Prieta, Mexico from December 16-23, where they took part in a humanitarian effort along with the charity foundation Rancho Feliz.

Head Coach Dustin Reid commented on the team’s trip over the holidays:

“We had a terrific trip to Agua Prieta. Our hosts Rancho Feliz and the people of Agua Prieta and Sonora province were so wonderful to partner with. I felt the current make-up of our team would especially benefit from this type of experience. The people that we had the opportunity to meet and interact with had so much to teach us. Seeing the hard work and dignity of so many people who are trying to make a better life for their family has had a profound impact on myself and the rest of our team.”

The Rancho Feliz Charitable Foundation has worked on the border since 1987, and is a multi-national, secular, non-profit organization that believes in the democratic redistribution of opportunity. The foundation has changed thousands of lives on both sides of the border with about 94 cents of every dollar raised going directly into their various programs.

Coach Reid pointed out three highlights of the trip:

“We donated $5,000 that we’d raised through our calendar sales towards this initiative and Rancho Feliz matched our donation. With this (money) we purchased food and assembled packages that were provided to 1000 people. Each package contained enough food to feed a family of five for 10 days.”

“Combined with some training and competitive opportunities we engaged in, we planned to offer three free clinics for players from the Agua Prieta community. We ended up giving four clinics to players who travelled (from as far as) five hours from all over northwestern Mexico. In all we worked with over 150 players of all ages and gender.”

“We took part in three separate construction projects during our seven days. $3,000 that we raised through hosting volleyball tournaments at Ryerson was donated to fund these projects. The project closest to the hearts of our players was certainly constructing, from the ground up, a home for the Valdez Family, a hard working family with three young sons. Visiting the family at the former home early in the week was a heartbreaking experience for all of us. Being able to see the excitement and appreciation as they prepared to move into their new home on the day we departed was very emotional to say the least. On our final day, each of the small work teams within our group had the chance to leave a ‘Lucky Loonie’ inside of the walls that they had worked to erect. This was very special.”

Story submitted by the Ryerson Rams Women’s Volleyball Team | RyersonRams.ca

The Nipissing Lady Lakers volleyball team returned home with a respectable fourth place finish at the 7th annual Innisbrook Resort Collegiate Volleyball Invitational Tournament taking place in Palm Harbor, Florida from Dec. 28, 2011 -  Dec. 31, 2011.

The Lady Lakers started off playing some strong volleyball and although the team dropped a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-18)  decision to York coach LaRochelle was happy with his team’s effort. “York is the top team in the OUA and they are very consistent in their execution. I thought we played very well for long stretches in this match but just made a few more mistakes down the stretch that led to some runs late in the first two sets.”

The Lady Lakers second match was against a familiar foe in their West Division rivals the Humber Hawks and for the first time this season the Lady Lakers came out on top with a 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23) victory.

In their final game of round robin play the Lady Lakers dropped a close 3-2 (25-16, 22-25, 25-19, 24-26, 15-12) decision to the host McMaster Marauders.

The playoffs would see a rematch as the Lakers and Marauders would play for Bronze. As in the first match the teams battled back and forth and when the dust settled McMaster would prevail 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 15-7) to claim the bronze medal.

“We had our chances against McMaster,” said LaRochelle. “The difference in these competitive matches is a team’s ability to maintain execution and focus for every point during the entire match. We made some unforced errors at crucial times that proved costly however overall I am very pleased with the effort.

“I think we learned some valuable lessons about what we can accomplish when we are focused and driven. Overall this was a very beneficial tournament and we look forward to the second half of the season.” Added LaRochelle.

Third year middle player Jacquie Dyball was named a tournament all star.

The final tournament standings are as follows: 1. York, 2. Manitoba, 3. McMaster, 4. Nipissing, 5. Humber, 6. Moncton

Story submitted by Marc LaRochelle for the Nipissing University Lady Lakers | NULakers.ca

Mikasa Sports Canada
When one thinks of iconic brands in volleyball, Mikasa Sports, comes to mind. This is a brand synonymous with high performance excellence in sports, and volleyball is no exception. Mikasa is a tremendous partner of the OVA and is the official volleyball of the OVA’s Indoor and Beach Programs.  Mikasa Sports Canada’s National Sales and Marketing Manager, Brian Mills, was on hand to accept the Award on Mikasa’s behalf.

Royal Bank of Canda (RBC)
The OVA embarked on an exciting new partnership with RBC this past season.  RBC is an OVA Beach Tour sponsor and we look forward to expanding the partnership in years ahead.  RBC also demonstrates its backing of high performance volleyball with its support of the RBC Olympian Program which includes Ontario’s own Beach Volleyball athlete, Christian Redmann.  Christian was on hand to accept the Award on RBC’s behalf.

At this year’s Awards Banquet, two officials were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the sport:

Eric Lawlor

• For over 10 years, Eric has served as the National Officials Liaison with Volleyball Canada and has served on the OVA Beach Committee
• He has conducted and assisted in running local clinics to certify new beach officials and has been a mentor for all levels of officials over the years
• Eric has served as Referee Supervisor at numerous FIVB events (2006 Bermuda, 2011 Quebec City, 2011 Halifax) and has officiated at numerous OVA events as Mentor or Head Official and has worked as an Official or Referee Supervisor at Volleyball Canada Beach National Championships for over 10 years.

Lynn Watkins

• Lynn Watkins has been an official for over 20 years.
• During this time she has been and currently is the Region 4 Officials Chair and has been a member of the Provincial Officials Committee, which is responsible for overseeing officials’ development in the province of Ontario.
• In her role as the Regional Officials Chair, Lynn is responsible for the organization and development of Officiating Programs as well as the management and distribution of officiating assignments for volleyball with in her Region.
• She facilitates the delivery of local and provincial upgrade programs, while serving as a mentor for younger officials in her Region.  She actively seeks opportunities for top officials from her region to travel elsewhere in order to increase their exposure and experience.