The Western Mustangs women’s volleyball team took a break this weekend after a successful weekend of wins at home. Taking on the Waterloo Warriors at home, the Western Mustangs powered past the visiting team 3-1 (20-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-17), making up for its difficult loss to Toronto the weekend before. With 16 kills on 53 attempts and 24 points for a game high score, captain Rebecca Oxland led the Mustangs to the victory along with setter Suzanna Campbell who had 43 assists and six digs. Heading on the road to St. Catharines, Western stayed consistent and grabbed a second victory over Brock 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 25-22), finishing off the weekend on a high note. Maintaining another game high of 16.5 points, Oxland led the Mustangs with 12 kills on 32 attempts, earning a second place standing in the OUA with 75 kills and 95 points recorded to date, only three points behind first place Gee-Gee Karina Krueger Schwanke.
The Mustangs are currently in sixth place with a total of six points in the OUA, falling just behind the Toronto Varsity Blues. White and purple have 11 games for and eight games against with a 2012-2013 OUA regular season record of 3-2.
The Western Mustangs challenge the Royal Military College Paladins followed by a rematch against rivals Ottawa Gee-Gees this weekend.
Royal Military College- Saturday, November 17 3:00 p.m.
Coached by Carolyn Welden, the Royal Military College Paladins women’s volleyball team holds eleventh place in the OUA with a 2012-2013 season record of 1-4. The Paladins had a successful start to the OUA regular season, with a match against the Lakehead Thunderwolves, coming off on top 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21). The Paladins’ initial win to start off the season is the only victory the team has seen thus far. Led by fourth year, right-side hitter Norah Collins – with seven kills on 31 attempts and 12 digs – the Paladins fell to the York Lions 0-3 (12-25, 14-25, 22-25) with 17 errors to York’s 11. RMC fell again in straight sets to Ryerson (16-25, 18-25, 21-25), followed by a closer loss to Waterloo 1-3, where the Paladins led the third set with a 26.7% kill percentage over the Warriors’ 18.4%. In its most recent endeavor, the RMC Paladins suffered a loss to the Guelph Gryphons 0-3 (19-25, 21-25, 14-25), halving Guelph’s kill percentage in each set. Chelsey Litjens led the Paladins against Guelph; the six-foot-two middle gained six kills on 16 attempts while committing only two errors. Litjens’ efforts couldn’t save RMC as they fell behind 34 game points to Guelph’s 59. Hoping for a win, the Paladins get ready to step back onto the court for their sixth game of the season.
University of Ottawa- Sunday, November 18 2:00 p.m.
Undefeated Ottawa Gee-Gees stand second in the OUA with 18 games for and only one against, narrowly behind first place York, both teams holding 12 points. The 6-0 Ottawa team is home to top OUA and CIS player Karina Krueger Schwanke, who holds 98 points to date with 80 kills on 175 attempts, averaging a nation-high 5.2 points per game. The Mustangs met the Gee-Gees earlier in the season during its season opening weekend on October 21 where the team fell short to Ottawa in three close sets (23-25, 26-28, 22-25). Since Western has faced Ottawa, the Gee-Gees went on a streak of success to remain undefeated, claiming a top five national ranking in the CIS Top Ten for the first time since 1984-85. Ottawa challenged Brock last weekend and claimed a 3-0 win over the Badgers with kills from Schwanke taking the team to lead. Ottawa will challenge Western in defense of their perfect season record in what is sure to be an extremely competitive match.
The Western Mustangs are on the road this weekend playing the Royal Military College Paladins on Saturday, November 17 in Kingston at the Kingston Military Community Sports Centre at 3:00 p.m., followed by a competitive match against defenders Ottawa Gee-Gees at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 18 in Ottawa.
