The women’s volleyball team steamrolled over the Windsor Lancers in a straight sets victory (25-17, 25-19, 25-21) Friday night at home, before defeating the Western Mustangs in a marathon five-set thriller (25-11, 25-19, 22-25, 20-25, 15-12) Saturday night at PAC. These two teams are in a dogfight with the Warriors for that fourth and final playoff spot in the OUA standings.
Warrior’s head coach Richard Eddy said the girls came storming out of the gates “confident,” proving their potential.
“The team played very well,” Eddy said. “I think it was a more accurate depiction of the way we can play versus some of the performances we’ve had earlier in the season.”
Warrior Claire Mackenzie set the tone for this weekend. She was one of three Warriors to reach double-digit points Friday night. She followed that performance with an outstanding offensive showing on Saturday, collecting 14 kills.
With a young team on this year’s squad, Eddy emphasized the importance of the fact the girls continue to show “continuous improvement.”
“There is no question they’ve improved. That has been the entire focus of this year,” Eddy said. “When you have a young team it is important to get them up to speed as quick as possible.”
Although this year’s focus is primarily on building a foundation for the future, the Warriors continue to have playoff aspirations as they sit in a three-team tie with the Mustangs and Lancers for that final playoff spot with four games remaining on their schedule.
“Getting to the playoffs is a focus,” Eddy said. “It’s in our hands to get out there and win — win some of our last four matches and hopefully earn that final playoff spot.”
Eddy emphasized confidence, a calm state of mind, and the team’s aggressive attacking as key.
<strong>The men’s volleyball team extends their winning streak to four </strong>
After suffering a scare in a match they seemed to have under control, the Warriors defeated the Windsor Lancers three sets to two (25-15, 22-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-7) on Friday at the PAC gym. The Warriors had less trouble getting past the Western Mustangs on Saturday as they recorded a dominating straight sets victory (25-18, 25-13, 25-12). Warriors have now won nine of their last 10 games to improve to 12-5.
Aaron Wiersma led the way offensively for the Warriors on Friday night, collecting 14 kills, while Jordan McConkey recorded a team leading nine kills versus the Mustangs on Saturday night.
Although the Warriors now sit tied in second place alongside the Ryerson Rams in the OUA standings, the Rams have two more regular season games. Not far behind in fourth place is Queen’s, whose team is making a late season charge for the second place spot sitting only two points behind the Rams and the Warriors.
