No. 1 Blues Achieve Perfection Again

For the second consecutive year, the No. 1 University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team achieved a perfect 19-0 regular season with Saturday night's (Feb. 25) five-set victory over the visiting Guelph Gryphons. Set scores were 25-27, 25-16, 25-7, 18-25, 15-8.

Guelph started the matchup on fire, forcing the Varsity Blues to play from behind in the first set. U of T nearly pulled off a comeback from six points down, but the Gryphons held on for the 27-25 first set victory.

From there the Varsity Blues found their groove, dominating net play as fifth-year setter Madelyn Mandryk spread the ball to all of Toronto's offensive weapons, picking up convincing second and third set wins.

However, after the fourth set technical timeout, the Gryphons would once again grab hold of momentum and went on a 9-2 run after the break to force a fifth and deciding set.

Toronto dialed up their game in the final set, utilizing experience gained from previous five-set thrillers against strong opponents in Ryerson and McMaster, in order to capture their 19th win of the season.

Alina Dormann led all players on the night with 18.5 points from 14 kills, two service aces, two solo blocks and one assisted block. Second-year middle Anna Licht recorded a new career-high with 15.5 points on 12 kills, three solo blocks and one assisted block.

The Varsity Blues also received double-digit point performances from outside hitters Anna Feore and Emma Armstrong who picked up 14 and 11, respectively.

Mandryk ended the night with a game-high 41 assists and 22 digs. Libero Asli Ersozoglu added 21 digs with the aforementioned Feore also reaching 20 digs.

The Blue and White will now host the Waterloo Warriors next Saturday, March 4 in OUA quarter-final action at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m., with all the action streamed live on OUA.tv.

Source: http://www.varsityblues.ca/

Other regular season scores:

Laval ousts volleyball Martlets with semifinal series sweep

MONTREAL -- Claire Vercheval scored a game-high 17 points but it wasn't enough as second-seeded Laval swept McGill 25-17, 25-18 and 25-23 to win their RSEQ women's volleyball semifinal 2-0, at Love Competition Hall on Saturday. The Rouge et Or won the series opener 3-2 in come-from-behind fashion on Friday in Quebec City, after trailing 2-0. It was a crushing defeat that appeared to cast a gloomy shadow over the Martlets in Game 2. After all, McGill had won three of four regular season meetings with their provincial rivals, including both road games in Quebec City.

"The balls that you really need to be controlling your emotions for, are tougher to play in situations like tonight," said McGill head coach Rachele Beliveau. "Our serve reception, for instance, was a little bit unstable today and even though we usually serve well, it took a while for us to adjust and have steady serves."

The loss put an end to the Martlets' season, leaving them with a 23-16 overall record, including a 10-10 third-place finish in a much-improved RSEQ conference, with just two wins separating second place from fifth in the six-team league. The Rouge et Or will advance to face Montreal in the conference final. The top-seeded Carabins swept their series over fourth-place Sherbrooke with a pair of 3-1 victories.

McGill had a 25-13 advantage in kills, a 28-13 margin in digs and a slight 9.5 to 9 edge in blocks, while the Rouge et Or served 10 aces to McGill's four.

Vercheval, a 6-foot-2 freshman from Ste. Julie, Que., led all players with 16 kills and one stuff block, to go along with three digs.

Teammate Myriam Robitaille of Terrebonne, Que., chipped in 11 points for the Martlets, on the strength of seven kills, a pair of service aces and two stuff blocks. Erika Cournoyer of Longueuil, Que., registered three kills and six stuff blocks and had one dig. Elisabeth Perrault, a rookie from Laval, Que., notched 5.5 points with five kills and a block and managed three digs on defence. Emilie Matte de Grasse of Montreal had four points, all from kills, and as many digs.

Alyssa Fields and Alice Cloutier each recorded nine points to pace Laval.

"I see a lot of positives for our young group," added Beliveau of her squad that featured 11 of 18 players in their first or second year, with 17 expected to return.

"We wanted our young kids to really feel what university volleyball is about and we gave many of them a lot of playing time. The progression after Christmas was really incredible. Compared to the first semester, our second half was really good. Now they know what it is like to play at this level and it's a matter of just stabilizing and solidifying everything.

"Offensively, defensively, fighting and blocking, the base is there," Beliveau noted. "It's just going to be a matter of learning to finish the game when we can and that will come with experience. I only see positive things to build up from this group."

McGill;s only expected loss to graduation is Marie-Eve Dorion, a 5-foot-9 power-hitter from St. Hubert, Que., whose brother Marc-Andre Dorion starred along the blueline for the men's hockey team a few years ago. She served up an ace and had three digs in her final match.

"Marie-Eve did a good job tonight," said Beliveau of the 23-year-old physical education senior. "She came in and stabilized the serve receive, stabilized the defence. Her four years sure went fast."

Source: http://mcgillathletics.ca/

Other playoff scores: