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.

In a fitting twist to the OUA volleyball campaign, the Marauders will meet the Guelph Gryphons in their semi-final encounter this Friday, March 5. The Gryphons have been a perpetual thorn in Mac’s side this season, beating the OUA leaders in both of their previous games (3-1 and 3-0). Considering that the Marauders lost only three games in total, Guelph’s achievement is both impressive and puzzling. Either way, Mac will have the chance to redeem themselves in elimination play and put an end to the giant-killers.

Read more from Fraser Caldwell, the Si.ca

Queens University punched in its ticket to this weekend’s conference Final Four men’s volleyball tournament eliminating the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 25-15, 25-14, 27-25 on Friday night in OUA Conference quarterfinal action.

The Gaels, vying for their third Ontario university title in five years, were led by Joren Zeeman with 15 points, one of four players on the team to score in double digits. Mitchell Woodside and Adam Palmer had eight points each for Toronto.

McMaster has a bye to the Final Four as the top regular season team.

Read more including CIS West ,Volleyball Canada

Their first loss in eight games, the Blues drop to 12-5 and are tied with the Queen’s Gaels for the top spot in the OUA East division with a game in hand. The Marauders improve to 16-2 and remain in first place in the West.

Sporting a pink jersey in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Ontario Chapter, Valjas was on fire all day and was named the Varsity Blues player of the game as she added 11 digs, four blocks and one serving ace to her 22-kill performance.

Get the full story varsityblues.ca

McMaster now has sole position of the top spot in the OUA with 22 points off their 11-2 record while Queen’s drops to 10-3 to sit behind 10-1 Western with 20 points.

The home team opened the evening with a 25-23 win but McMaster climbed back on top with two straight wins in the second and third (20-25, 13-25). The Gaels weren’t about to lose a second match to the Marauders this season and battled their way up to win the fourth by three points, 25-22. The Marauders ended Queens’ comeback efforts in the fifth set with a 15-8 win to take the game and sweep their conference schedule against Queen’s this season.

Shawn Bench (Hamilton) was MAC’s scoring leader, recording 19 points off 15 kills, two aces and four solo blocks. Jeremy Groenveld (Welland, Ont.) also contributed 17 points and 11 kills in the win while Ryan Hudson (Wininpeg, MB) had 38 out of the team’s 42 assists.

Joren Zeeman (Cambridge, Ont.) topped the Gaels’ roster with a game high of 25 points and 21 kills.

Source: Charlotte Peer, Athletic Communications.

For the second time in three years, the Pepperdine University Wave of California are the champions. The Wave downed the Dalhousie Tigers of Halifax, Nova Scotia 3-0 to take the 2010 title. The scores were 25-15,25-23,25-21.

The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack captured the bronze medal. The WolfPack beat the Trinity Western Spartans 3-2 (30-28,25-22,17-25,19-25,15-12).

Get all the stories of the tournament

photo: Ron Albertson / The Hamilton Spectator

The volleyball career of McMaster University graduate Parrish Offer has taken him from Kingston, Ontario, to Kingston, Jamaica.

The former Marauders captain was scheduled to leave in May for the Jamaican capital, where he’ll play for that country’s national team.

Offer was born in Kingston, Ontario, 24 years ago. And before beginning his outstanding career with the OUA champion Marauders, he played in Kingston for the provincial AAA high school champion Regiopolis-Notre Dame Panthers.

“My mom, Patricia, was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica,” said Offer, earlier this week, in explaining his route to the national-team level.

Offer said that last year he took the advice of McMaster men’s volleyball coach Dave Preston, who suggested he pursue dual citizenship.

Get the full story:  Larry Moko The Hamilton Spectator

The 20-year-old St. Catharines native discovered the suspected shin splints that were bothering him was really a stress fracture in his left tibia, the inner bone of two bones extending from the knee to the ankle.

Doctors recommended the Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School graduate stay away from jumping for six to eight weeks and Lichty spent a few days pondering his options. He decided to try out for libero, a backcourt defensive specialist, instead of a left-side attacker and was able to make a successful transition.

The McMaster University history student and volleyball player has been chosen to represent Canada at the world championships in Pune, India, from July 31 to Aug. 9. The tibia is now starting to heal and he’s hoping to return to jumping before leaving for India.

“I pride myself on my passing ability, so libero was a good fit for me,” he said. “I am learning so much and am very grateful for this opportunity because it will only better my game as a leftside once I make the transition back.”

His play at the team’s tryout camp and training camp in Winnipeg has impressed Canadian head coach Chris Green, who said Lichty’s value to the team is his skill level, passing and ability to dig.

“What I needed to see from him was to be impressed by his passing ability because one of the things we will need over there against well-developed and top European teams is the ability to pass,” he said.

“If someone is weak or breaking down, Josh is going to be the guy who needs to go in.”

Even with a bad leg, Lichty had one of the best passing percentages in camp.

“It’s a comfort factor for me knowing I can look down the bench and he’s ready to go,” Green said.

Lichty believes he’s adapting well to the role.
“It was a tough challenge mentally more than anything to wrap my head around a new position and my physical condition.”

He feels the libero training will pay huge dividends, allowing him to sharpen aspects of his game he otherwise wouldn’t have focused on.

“I am loving it and could see my volleyball future in the libero position.”

This will be the fourth time Lichty has represented Canada. He was on the youth national team that travelled to Dominican Republic for the NORCECA championships, played for Canada’s youth beach volleyball team at the world championships in Poland and, in 2008, he was on the national junior team that earned a silver medal and a world championship berth in a qualifier in El Salvador.

“I’ve been to many poorer countries that would not be on my list to travel to. But once I get there, I am overwhelmed by the culture and excitement each individual place has to offer. I am blessed that I get this opportunity.”

Get the full story friom Bernie Puchalski, The St.Catharines Standard

One of Sarah Kiernan’s first steps toward a dream of representing Canada on home turf in 2015 was in unique circumstances — underwater and on a treadmill.

The McMaster University volleyball player is an example of an athlete who has the latest conditioning and rehabilitation facilities and expertise provided through Ontario’s Quest for Gold program.

And she’ll be joined by others at Mac’s David Braley Athletic Centre after yesterday’s announcement of $150,000 for high performance athletes.

Kiernan, 21, has her eye on a spot with the Canadian volleyball team which would compete at Copps Coliseum if the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games bid is successful.

“That would be great, playing in front of a big crowd in my home town.”

She says the high-performance help in training, sports medicine and rehabilitation will make the Braley Centre a hotbed for elite athletes.

The Sir Allan MacNab grad nursed a bad ankle back to health much faster than in the past using that underwater treadmill in Canada’s only saltwater hydrotherapy pool.

Get the full story John Kernaghan, Hamilton Spectator