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

“Today we demonstrated outstanding focus and composure on the court one play at a time,” said Varsity Blues head coach Kristine Drakich. “Each player is committed to our goals and as a result we are competing and getting better every day. Our success this weekend was a results of the collective hard work of the team.”

Second-year rightside hitter and Ottawa native Charlotte Sider once again led the Blues, tallying a game-high 16 kills and adding 10 digs on the night.  Rookie Denise Wooding of North Vancouver, B.C., had 11 kills and 11 digs, while setter Malena Rapaport (Vancouver) added 35 assists and 10 digs in the win.

The first and second sets were see-saw battles, both ending in 25-23 favours for Toronto. The third set started the same way, with U of T holding an 8-7 lead early on; however Western rallied and consistently held a four-point lead before closing with a 25-20 advantage.  The Blues went onto regain their composure and handily take the fourth to secure the win.

The victory leaves the Blues in second place with an 8-3 record, while the Mustangs drop to 6-4 and are in a three-way tie for fifth in the OUA.

Toronto returns to the court next Sunday, January 15 as they head to Ryerson to take on the Rams. Opening serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Story submitted by the Varsity Blues | VarsityBlues.ca

MARC WILSON, MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Marc Wilson from Stratford, Ont. helped the Guelph Gryphon men’s volleyball team secure two big road wins on the weekend to start the second half of the season.  Guelph started the weekend defeating the Queens Gaels 3-2 on Saturday. During the five set match the middle hitter amassed 12 kills, four stuff blocks and a service ace against a very strong Gaels team.  The next day Wilson helped the Gryphons earn a 3-0 win over RMC tallying four kills, two stuff blocks and one service ace.  After the successful weekend, Guelph moved to 8-3 on the regular season and sits tied for second in the OUA standings.

ERINN BICKLE, WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Third year Erinn Bickle of Whitby, Ont. was a dominant force in earning the Gryphon women’s volleyball team a road split of their matches in Kingston this past weekend.  The middle blocker earned a total of 38 points including a huge 13 points in blocks. On Saturday the Gryphons dropped a very close 3-2 match with the Queens Gaels in which Bickle was a shining star tallying 25 points (14 kills, 1 ace, 10 blocks).  The next day she helped the Gryphons to a 3-0 win over RMC scoring 13 points (9 kills, 1 ace, 3 blocks).

Story submitted by Michelle Pino for the Guelph Gryphons | Gryphons.ca

The University of Windsor continued their winning ways with the defeat of the Toronto Varsity Blues at the St. Denis Centre on January 6th, 2012.  In front of a capacity crowd the Lancers defeated the Blues 3-1.  The scores were 19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-22.

The Lancers started off the set sluggish and it was side out volleyball for the first 20 points and then costly errors put the Varsity Blues on top taking the first set easily.

It was more of the same in the 2nd set up until about the 10 point mark where Coach Lippert gave the nod to put in rookie setter Blase Wasser.

“We were at a stale mate.  Nobody wanted to do what needed to be done to stop this side out slugfest.” Commented first year Head Coach Shawn Lippert. “  I put Wasser in there to put a fire in their bellies.”

The move paid off because the Lancers put up an un-answered run and the set went to the Lancers.   It was more of the same in the 3rd set as Wasser kept feeding Williamson and Oake for most of their kills.

In the fourth set, 5th year setter William Alexander was back on the floor and the Lancers went down 13-10 early.  Wasser again was put into action.  The Lancers rallied back and went up on top of Toronto 24-22 when a shanked ball was sent to the back curtain and Blase Wasser dove for it to save the ball and Oake threw the free ball back to Toronto.  Toronto transitioned but made the error to give the Lancers the match win.

“I just wanted to do everything I could to give us a chance to win.” Says Blase Wasser.  “Whenever Coach Lippert gives me the nod, I will do everything in my power to get us the 25th point before the other team.”

Kyle Williamson hit .400 with 11 kills 9 digs and 2 blocks.  Harrison Oake had 12 kills for .276 with five digs.  Foster led the Lancers with 10 digs.

Story from the Windsor Lancer Volleyball Club Website.

The Marauders took the opening set, 25-21, lost the next two, 25-21 and 25-20, rebounded for a 25-20 win but dropped the final set 15-7. The game was Mac’s first since the Christmas break and leaves the Marauders with a 3-6 record for ninth place in the OUA’s 13-team league.

Kailee Stock had a team-high 18 points for the Marauders, all in kills, and recorded another 16 digs. Middle blocker Shannon McRobert also reached double-digit points with 16, 11 of those points coming from kills, four blocks, and an ace. Rookie Lauren Mastroluisi added 10 more points for McMaster with eight kills and two blocks and setter Amanda Weldon recorded 42 assists and 13 digs. Libero Meagan Nederveen dug up a game-high 20 balls for the Marauders.

For the Badgers, Lucy McLay earned a game-high 20 kills along with 20 digs and Rachel Roorda added another 15 points. Jennifer McKenzie and Lauren Stirling recorded 12 and 11 points, respectively and setter Ally Fast earned 47 assists in Brock’s win.

Story from McMaster Athletics as posted on HamiltonScores.com

The 2011 Achievement Award Winners are:

Denis Levesque

• Denis has been coaching for over 15 years in the Golden Horseshoe region and has been an integral part of the development of female volleyball players between the ages of 12 to 17
• Since 2006, Denis has been part of the coaching staff of first the Mountain Athletic Club and most recently, the Mountain Volleyball Club (MVC) where he currently coaches the 15u team.
• Denis is heavily involved in the administration of the club as an executive member, Denis has run leadership sessions for club coaches and athletes, a job he also dedicates himself to in the summer at the Ministry of Education Leadership Camp (OELC) at Lake Couchiching.
• Denis has extended his coaching involvement beyond the MVC club system, coaching both junior and senior boys and girls at the elementary school where he has taught and coached for fifteen years.
• In addition, Denis often volunteers a portion of his summer assisting athletes at Madawaska Volleyball Camp or at the Elite Centers run by the Ontario Volleyball Association and has acted as coach for the regional team for Region 3.
• Denis is also an integral part of the developmental side of the Mountain Volleyball Club where he helps design and implement LTAD friendly curriculum that is used in both our house league and summer camp programs

Cathy O’Doherty

• Cathy has been coaching for over 26 and is recognized as a coach and leader of athletics not only at the High School level in Ottawa, but for the volleyball in the Province of Ontario.
• She is a founding member of the national Capital Volleyball Club, now known as Ottawa Fusion, and continues as a coach and board member.
• She spends countless hours counseling and advocating for players as they move on to post-secondary institutions. Her philosophy of coaching is not that much different than what she uses in her classroom — respect, dedication, teamwork and fair play.
• Cathy is a Learning Facilitator and runs Coaching courses for the OVA in the Ottawa Region.
• Cathy was also a member of the 2009 Canada Games Team Coaching staff, which won a silver medal at the Games in PEI.

Mike Russell

• Mike has assisted the OVA by hosting OVA Tournaments, Coaching Clinics and Officials clinics for many years and has been a part of the Region 5 Executive
• Mike was the Manager of the Boys Provincial Team in 2011
• He has helped to develop countless number of players to achieve higher levels of success in volleyball.
• Current Assistant Coach at Sheridan Men’s and former Head Coach of Sheridan’s women’s program, and the former Assistant at McMaster University
• Mike has hosted many OFSAA Championships, including the first ever all-in-one Boys event at one location in 2010 – creating one of the biggest events for boys volleyball that was truly province wide (A to AAAA)
• On top of his OVA volunteerism, Mike is currently coaching at Rick Hansen SS and Applewood ES

Beth Schulz

• Beth is the past president of Niagara Rapids VBC and currently serves as the registrar for the Club.
• She is currently coaching the 15U Black Niagara Rapids Girls Team for the 2011/12 season.
• Beth has set up and delivers SPIKES volleyball house league programs in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls for children in grades five and six and has even begun a mini-SPIKES program to deliver the fundamentals of volleyball skills to children in grades 1-4.
• On top of her duties with Niagara Rapids, Beth has assisted the OVA over the years by delivering SPIKES On the Road volleyball day programs throughout schools in Ontario as well as by coaching at Regional Team Training Centres and FUNdamentals Centres.

Andrew Robb

• Andrew is a National beach referee and an International Candidate for indoor volleyball.
• For the past six years, Andrew has also contributed to the sport of volleyball through his work as the Region 5 Officials’ Chair, as well as the Senior Assignor for Region 5.
• Andrew actively evaluates Regional Upgrade candidates as an assistant to the Regional Upgrade Program Chair and provides the candidates with valuable feedback to further develop and hone their officiating skills.
• As Region 5 ROC, Andrew also oversees the Provincial Mentorship Program and is responsible for assigning a mentor to each Provincial candidate and monitoring their progress each season.
• Final confirmation of Andrew’s promotion to International referee is expected from FIVB in early 2012.

John May

• John, the founder of Crush Volleyball, is currently the head coach of the Crush 18U Boys team.  Crush has won 10 National Indoor Championships and 8 Provincial Indoor Championships since it was founded 6 years ago. On the beach Crush athletes have won Provincial, National, and World Championships.
• Coached Mark Heese and John Child at the Olympics in 2004 and coached Child/Heese and Ahren Cadieux and Mark Heese on FIVB World Tour.
• John is a 3-Time OUA Champion as a player and a member of the York University Athletic Hall of Fame.  He has also coached the U of T Women’s Team to an OUA Title.

Yolanda MacKinnon

• Yolanda has developed the volleyball community at the grass roots level in Thunder Bay including starting an OVA SPIKES program.
• Yolanda has worked in many capacities with the OVA’s Athlete Development Programs helping to further develop athletes and coaches  in the Region 1 area and across Ontario.
• Yolanda is a former OVA Region 1 President

Kevin Hellyer

• Kevin is currently the head coach of the Durham Attack U17 Black female team, but has coached teams at the U13-17 level, achieving medal success at Provincial and National Championships.  Kevin is also the lead coach at the Durham Attack Summer Camp.
• Kevin has also been a member of the Region Coaching programs.  He has coached both at the Regional Games and the Ontario Summer Games, winning a gold medal at the 2008 Games.
• His ability to work collaboratively with others has allowed him to develop a number of coaches, while also developing his coaching.

The Guelph Gryphons men’s volleyball team is pleased to announce the addition of Guelph native Tim Warnholtz to the program for the 2012-13 season

“Tim is a very gifted volleyball player and an even better man. His work ethic is second to none and he plays with unbelievable passion. We recruited Tim because he is the type of player that is not only a great talent but also a player of integrity and player that has a deep desire to play at the highest level possible,” said University of Guelph head coach Cal Wigston who feels Warnholtz is a top five recruit in the country.

“Tim had opportunities to go where ever he wanted to play but ultimately chose to stay in his home town to play in front of his family and friends.”

“Being from Guelph had an impact in my decision because family is important to me and being able to be close to them will be very nice,” said Warnholtz.

Warnholtz, a 6-5 right side comes from Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute (GCVI) where he played volleyball for four years. He was three times named the men’s volleyball MVP at GCVI and the junior male athlete of the year in grade 10.

Additionally he competed club volleyball for Forest City in London, Ont.  This past summer he competed with the U18 Provincial Team and won bronze at the National Team Challenge Cup (NTCC). He hopes to make the Canadian junior team next year after attending camp with the team this past year and looks forward to playing for the Gryphons next season.

“I chose the University of Guelph because the volleyball team has a very high potential for the next few years and I would love to be involved in that process and hopefully in some way help the team towards an OUA title,” said Warnholtz. “Also, the level of coaching that will be available to me will help in achieving my personal goals as well as team goals.”

Warnholtz hopes to pursue a Human Kinetics degree at the University of Guelph.

“Our program is committed to building a team that will compete at the CIS level and in order to do that we have to focus on skill and quality of character. Tim is a model for both,” said Wigston.

Athletes who commit to any Guelph Gryphon team will be eligible to compete provided they are academically admissible and eligible to the University of Guelph.

Story submitted by Michelle Pino for Gryphon Athletics, University of Guelph |Gryphons.ca

The tournament features York University, McMaster University, the University of Manitoba, Universite de Moncton, Humber College and Nipissing University.

The tournament format includes two divisions of three teams with the Lady Lakers scheduled to play York University, Humber College and McMaster University. The teams will then be placed in a playoff format based on results. The teams also have various training seasons planned throughout the week.

“As a team we are always looking for opportunities and challenges to get better and this will certainly be a very good test for us,” said head coach Marc LaRochelle.

The Lady Lakers have an 8-1 regular season record and are ranked 2nd in the OCAA and 11th nationally.

The team will return to regular season play January 21/22, 2012 when they host Redeemer and Humber.

Story submitted by Marc LaRochelle for Nipissing University | nulakers.ca

The match was almost a copy of the match from the previous night with Lakehead playing determined volleyball for much of the first set, but then falling behind early in sets 2 & 3 and having to play from behind the rest of the way. Coach Funk said, “ I thought both teams played better than the previous night and we were fortunate to be able to play with the lead for much of the second and third sets. Our team is still learning how to play with more consistency so we have to keep our nose to the grindstone in our training to make that happen.”

Brooke Lloyd led the offense again with 13 points (12 kills, 1 ace) followed by Erinn Bickle with 10 (7 kills, 3 blocks). The Gryphons are home again next weekend when they will host the Queen’s Gaels and the RMC Paladins on Friday and Saturday nights. Game time for both is 6pm.

Story submitted by Paul Funk, Head Coach Women’s Volleyball, University of Guelph | Gryphons.ca

Team captain Jeremy Groenveld scored 19 kills in McMaster’s three set win over the Waterloo Warriors on the road Friday night.

The defending OUA champions steamrolled their way to their second win of the OUA regular season at the University of Waterloo with set scores of 25-23, 25-20, 25-22.

Groenveld had a game-high 19 points, all from kills, and Kevin Stevens  had another 10 for the Marauders in the win. Setter TJ Sanders had 37 assists and 4 aces on Friday night.

For the Warriors, Cameron Wheelan had a team-high 14 points and Fiodar Kazhamiaka had another 12 for the home team.

The Marauders continue on the road with a game against the Guelph Gryphons at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night.

Source: Marauders Athletics

Ryerson Rams @ Guelph Gryphons

The Guelph Gryphons matched up against the Ryerson Rams tonight (Oct. 28th) in Guelph at the W.F. Mitchell Center. After a tense game the Gryphons won their season-opener 3-1. Set scores were 25-22, 25-27, 25-20, and 25-22.

It was a rough start for the Gryphons in the first set, having added six rookies to the team this season. The Gryphons had already met the Rams in a pre-season tournament where they lost 3-1. A new dynamic on the court made for some early mistakes and miscommunications and gave the Rams a slight early lead. The Gryphons started pulling it together with help from Marc Wilson (Stratford, ON) who showed great promise last season as a rookie, and he brought it full force to this game.

The Gryphons introduced a promising new starting libero to the court – Hugo Curley (Ottawa, ON), the third libero the team has seen in three years. New Gryphons Greg Houston (Chatham, ON) and Eric Wagner (Kitchener, ON) were also thrown into the mix this game and played well.  Guelph closed the gap in the first set and eventually overcame the Rams finishing it 25-22.

The Gryphons and Rams played a very competitive second set. The Gryphons had to ward off Luca Milosevic (Toronto, ON) and Alexander Dawson’s (Scarborough, ON) aggressive attacks. The score continued to build back and forth until it sat at 25-26 and Ram player Marc Reardon (London, ON) took the set with a final kill – 25-27.

The third set was much stronger for the Gryphons.  Houston, Andrew Whitaker (Sharon, ON) and Winston Rosser (Whitby, ON) led the Gryphons in kills and helped build a lead midway through the set that carried them straight to the end. Ultimately it was the defensive combination of Whitaker, Wilson and Ryan Killeen (Oakville, ON) and their blocks that took the third set 25-20.

In the fourth, Ryersons Aleska Miladinovic (Belgrade, Serbia) proved to be a strong defensive player for the Rams and managed to shut down a lot of Gryphon attacks. Midway through the set Guelph capitalized on some Ryerson mistakes and were able to build a comfortable lead that the Rams couldn’t catch up to. An ace from Kevin Carey (Grand Prairie, AB) secured the Gryphon lead at 24-21, and a Rams service error finished the game 25-22.

The game ended 3-1 for the Gryphons, proving the strength of the new and old members as a team. The Gryphons were led by Whitaker with 16 kills, 2 aces and 3 digs, along with Rosser and rookie Houston who both had 10 kills each.  The Rams were led by Milosevic with 15 kills, 3 aces, and 6 digs.

The Gryphons next play Oct. 29th against the McMaster Marauders in Guelph at the W.F. Mitchell Center. The game begins at 8pm.

Source: Gryphons Athletics

RMC Paladins @ Queen’s Gaels

The Queen’s Gaels (1-0) won their first game of the season in straight sets against cross town rivals the RMC Paladins tonight at the Athletics and Recreation Centre. The set scores were 25-12, 25-18, 25-18.

The Gaels handled the Paladins easily in what was a quick first set. The Paladins would make things tougher on Queen’s in set two as the two squads kept things close until the Gaels pulled away with the 25-18 set win. The team would repeat the set score in the third to take the match.

Philippe Goyer, of Ottawa Ont., led the team with nine kills on 16 attack attempts, registering only three errors in the process. Scott Brunette of Calgary, Atla. led the team with one solo block and one block assisted to go along with four kills.

RMC was lead by Kingston native Tyler Leknois, who hit nine kills on 21 attempts, 10 more attempts than the next leading hitter for the Paladins.

The Gaels will travel to Windsor on November 4, 2011 in an attempt to remain perfect in the season.

Source: Gaels Athletics

Ryerson Rams @ Waterloo Warriors

The Warriors picked up their first win of the season with a straight set victory over the Ryerson Rams on Saturday night at the PAC gym.  The Warriors won the first two sets by the slimmest of margins, 25-23 and 26-24 and took control in the third set winning 25-19.

With the win Waterloo improved to 1-1 while the Rams fell to 1-2.

Fifth year outside hitter Cameron Wheelan (Barrie) was a force once again for the Warriors leading all players with 11 kills.  Wheelan also added four blocks and one service ace to round out his attack.  Second year players Fiodar Kazhamiaka (Waterloo) and Jordan Dyck (St. Catharines) each added seven kills in a winning effort.  Setter Scott Thomson (St. Marys) was solid once again for the black and gold dishing out 26 assists.

Leading the offense for the Rams was outside Luka Milosevic (Toronto, Ont.) with nine kills and two blocks for 11 points.  Setter Aleksa Miladinovic (Toronto, Ont.) had 20 assists in the loss.

Waterloo travels to Toronto next weekend to face the York Lions (0-2) on Friday and the Toronto Varsity Blues (0-1) on Saturday.

Source: Warriors Athletics

McMaster Marauders @ Guelph Gryphons

The McMaster men’s volleyball team recorded their second three-set win of the weekend by taking down the Guelph Gryphons on the road. Set scores in favour of the Marauders were 25-20, 25-22, 25-16.

McMaster’s Jeremy Groenveld (Welland, Ont.) had another double-digit night with 15 points, all in kills. Middle Michael Sjonnesen (Cambridge, Ont.) had another nine for the Marauders with the majority of those points coming from blocks. Kevin Stevens (Winnipeg, Man.) was also big at the net for the Marauders with seven kills and a block.

The only effective players for the Gryphons were Andrew Whitaker (Sharon, Ont.) and Winston Rosser (Whitby, Ont.) with 13 and 9 points, respectively.

The Marauders continue on the road next Friday with a match-up against the Ryerson Rams.

Source: Marauders Athletics

Toronto Varsity Blues @ York Lions

The York University Lions men’s volleyball team earned its first victory of the season thanks to a four-set triumph over the rival Toronto Varsity Blues at Tait McKenzie Centre on Sunday (Oct. 30).

The Lions (1-2) jumped out to an early start thanks – in part – to a hot stretch in which they won eight of nine points en route to a 25-16 opening set win. After the Varsity Blues rallied for a 25-19 second set to even the match, York established a consistent, defensive-minded presence to claim the final two sets 25-15 and 25-22.

Nikola Sandic (Etobicoke, Ont.) won player of the game honours for the Lions after a solid all-around effort which saw him collect eight kills, 10 digs and 11 points. Sandic’s offensive effort was complemented by teammates Ray Szeto (Sutton, Ont.) and Gregory Ivan (Toronto), each of whom had seven kills. Marvin Macalino (Aurora, Ont.) helped stabilize the York offence with a match-best 27 assists.

The Varsity Blues (1-1) showed plenty of firepower, with Mitchell Woodside (Clyde River, P.E.I.), Matthew Vares (Scarborough, Ont.) and Jake Dysselhof (Mississauga, Ont.) each contributing nine kills. However, the trio was also responsible for 26 attack errors and 13 service errors in the match.

Both teams benefited from their share of serving miscues throughout the match, with Toronto committing 20 service errors and York making 16 errors of their own from the service line.

The Lions will be back home at the Tait McKenzie Centre this coming weekend for games against the Waterloo Warriors on Friday (Nov. 4) at 8pm and the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday (Nov. 5) 4pm.

Story from the OUA Website |  OUA.ca