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

The Wildcats U16 Girls’ Volleyball Team captured the Ontario Volleyball Association’s 10-team McGregor Cup Volleyball Tournament in Orillia over the weekend posting a perfect 5 and 0 record.

The team won its pool defeating the Orillia Suns 25-9 and 25-9 and the Interclub Black 15U team from Toronto 25-13, 23-25, 15-7 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Here the Wildcats defeated the Georgian Cubs in straight sets 25-23 and 25-8. In their semi-final the Cats faced a second Interclub team defeating the Blues 25-13 and 25-21.

In the finals the Cats defeated the number 3 seed Selects from Toronto in a thrilling 3-set match. After winning the initial set 25-21, the Cats were soundly defeated 25-6 by the Selects to force a third and decisive set.

In a jammed Twin Lakes S.S. gym the Wildcats regained their poise and focus winning the match 15-13 to capture the tournament’s gold medal.

In two O.V.A. tournaments this season the number 1 seeded Wildcats have a silver and gold medal and have posted an impressive 11-1 record as they prepare for both the provincial and national Club Championships to be held in Waterloo and Toronto.

The versatility and depth of the team were evident throughout the tournament as all 10 Club members contributed to the team’s success with strong and consistent serving and tough defensive play both at the net and in the backcourt.

Members of the gold medal squad that now advances to the O.V.A.’s Championship Division in February were Maddy Waller, Kylie Burns, Cassie Dobson, Micaela Wolfe, Emma Vanderlee, Brittany Coughlin, Mackenzie Wolfe, Morgan Lafontaine, Kayla Battigaglia, and Erin Hebert. The Wildcats were coached by Rick Vanderlee and John Jeffries.

Story by Chris Dawson as submitted to BayToday.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.

The Forest City Volleyball Club was well represented at the OVA 16U Boys Challenge Cup in London on January 14, 2012. The Forest City team went undefeated to capture the gold medal on home turf.

The team started the day with focused and determined play, finishing first in their pool by defeating the Waterloo Tigers Black 25-10, 25-11; and Hamilton Heat 25-19, 25-23.

Although setter, Matt Mawdsley suffered an injury, he and the rest of the team battled on in the quarter-finals to beat Burlington Blaze 25-22, 25-15.

The boys stayed upbeat and optimistic as they faced local competition from the London Spiking Sharks in the semi-finals. Forest City fought two hard sets and came up the winner with scores of 25-19, 26-24… but not without further injury to their setter.

Going into the finals against Niagara Rapids meant a rework in the lineup for Forest City but they would not be deterred by this change. The team played the best volleyball yet in their season to win a gold in two straight sets, 25-18, 27-25.  The team had proven that their commitment to hard work, training and practice was paying off.

Members of the Forest City Green 15U include: Coaches: Dave Phoenix, Airianna Mapp and Rick  Mawdsley; and Players: Alec Bugler, Kyle Dalgliesh, Ben Fletcher, Andre Foreman, Andy Keech, Sebastian Lethbridge, Jonathan Loos, Matt Mawdsley, Sam Otten, Broderick Refflinghaus, Mounib Samara, and Cole Taylor.

Story submitted by Gail Fletcher for the Forest City 15U Boys Team.

13U Team Success:

The Hamilton Smash Volleyball Club was represented at the 13U Ontario Volleyball Association’s McGregor Cup which took place in Kitchener, Ontario on January 21. The high flying youth Smash team captured a silver medal winning every set leading to the final game.

In pool play the Smash team finished first in their pool, defeating the Waterloo Tigers 3-0 and Sarnia Thunder 3-0. Quarter-final action saw the young girls beat KW Predators 2-0 to advance to the semi-finals where they swept the Hespeler Scorpions Cubs 2-0 to advance to the finals. In the finals the Smash suffered their first loss of the day at the hands of the top ranked team in the province Forest City Blues from London 2-0 to claim a silver medal.

Members of Smash Team include: Coaches Mark Wu and Norm Scime, Aniyah Dwyer, Sara Masri , Emily  Scime, Jessica  De Forest,  Kristina Wu , Sabrina Cianciosi , Carly Wong, Juliana  Marfisi and Natalie Clark.

18U Team Success:
Hamilton Smash 18U Girls started the year off with a bang.

During the OVA Challenge Cup in the Championship West Division the girls took on the Toronto Aces, defeating them in 2 sets.  Following this match, the team beat ACTS Elite in 3 sets to finish first in their pool.  During the Quarter Finals the girls went on to beat Tigers Black in 2 sets and then it was on to the Semi Finals where the girls played their best game of the day.  The girls fought hard to earn the win against the formidable Northern Chill team.  This game showed their true grit.  Then it was on to the Championship game.  The girls started off strong, but fell short and brought home a silver medal.

Members of the Smash 18U Team include:  Vanessa Iles, Mel Rasmussen, Michelle Ogrodnik, Jacinta McAndrew, Alicia Jack, Kristen Montgomery, Katherine Roberge, Mackenzie Bailey, Teaghan Woodbyrne, and Kaylen DeRoia.

Story submitted by Julie Whalen for Hamilton Smash Volleyball Club.

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 Scarborough Titans Synergy 16U girls volleyball team are off to a great start to the season.

The girls, who have been the gold East National Champions for the past two years have gone undefeated in three tournaments so far this season.

The team won a tournament held in Casselman, just east of Ottawa. The Synergy went undefeated and won the gold medal against Toronto’s Eclipse West in two sets.

Last month, the Synergy girls competed in their second Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) tournament held in Cambridge. They won every game and then won gold in the final against Toronto Eclipse East, 25-19, 20-25, 15-10.

January 14, 2012 was another exciting day for the STVC Synergy 16U girls team as they played their first 17U OVA Tournament. They never let the nerves get the best of them and were able to work together and live up to their name. Being undefeated in pool play was only the beginning. With their synergy and determination they remained victorious to win gold against Stingray Whip, 25-16, 25-10.

Story submitted by Branislav Uzelac for the Scarborough Titans Synergy16U Girls.

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 fifth-year student at Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate has passed on opportunities in Canada and south of the border and will instead play volleyball at the University of Waterloo in September. Lynch said a pair of factors weighed heavily in her decision to forego her dream of playing NCAA volleyball in the United States and accept UW’s maximum annual athletic scholarship of about $4,000.

“I was completely set on going to the States and then recently, the past few months, I decided I wanted to stay here and focus on academics and be close to my family,” said Lynch, 18, who will study biomedical science.

“Once I started to realize that I would only see my family twice a year during the school year, I didn’t like that . . . at all.”

The six-foot-one Team Ontario member also has a history with Warriors volleyball coach Gabriele Jobst, who has helped train her as a beach player in the past. Knowing Jobst’s coaching philosophy and passion for the game was another factor in her decision to sign at UW, where she’ll play middle blocker and outside hitter.

“Gabby’s been coaching me for quite a few years now and I love her . . . she’s an amazing coach. She has the same passion for the sport that I do and she really pushes me,” she said.

Lynch, who has also been instructed for many years by Paul Pavan of the K-W Predators, followed a non-traditional path to UW, starting way back in Grade 8.

“My mom (Mary) forced me to play. I didn’t want to play at all but I’ve always been tall and she though I’d be good at it,” said Lynch.

Mom, as she usually is, was right.

Lynch would play four years of high school volleyball at KCI before trying out for the senior boys team this past September. Not only did she make the team, she earned a starting spot and played setter and libero for the Raiders, two positions she had never played before. Suiting up for the boys squad was an amazing experience, she said, because of the faster pace and higher calibre of play that caused her to learn new skills and improve her game as a whole.

Her teammates welcomed her with open arms — “They actually wanted me to play,” she said — and she also didn’t hear any negative comments from KCI’s opponents.

There was, however, the odd wink sent her way.

“The occasional guy hitting on you at the net, but it was all fun,” she laughed.

The only letdown was not playing against her younger brother, Grant, who attends Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School and plays for the senior boys team there. The Raiders and Highlanders simply didn’t meet during the course of the regular season or playoffs.

Lynch also has a younger brother, Bruce, who plays junior volleyball at SJAM, and an older brother, Scott. Her father, Gary, completes the family photo and has been a big supporter.

Lynch was prohibited from playing for the girls team at KCI during the ongoing winter season because of a recent provincewide policy that prevents a student from playing the same sport twice in the same school year. No big deal, said Lynch, as she’s leaving school at the end of January and hoping to find a full-time job to keep her busy until September.

In the meantime, she works as a referee for the Ontario Volleyball Association and can be seen officiating at various levels locally, including high school and university matches. She’s been officiating for a couple of years now and it’s given her a better appreciation of what the person in the referee stand is up against.

“Officiating is fun, but only if you have nice coaches. I ended up crying once in my first year of reffing because an under-15 coach was really unhappy when his team lost at provincials and criticized me,” she said.

“So I have respect for the refs because it’s hard, everything is up to you. And really there’s no point in trying to change a ref’s mind because they won’t change their mind.”

The money she earns between now and September will come in handy for Lynch. As much as she loves her family, she plans on living in residence during her first year at UW before returning home for her second year.

Story from The Record