One win, one loss each

Posted by admin on Nov 27, 2010 in Sports | 0 comments

The Spartans entered the weekend with a record of 6-0 (women’s) and 5-1 (men’s) and were looking to take advantage of two University of Alberta teams that desperately wanted more victories.

Women’s:

On the women’s side, the Spartans ended up splitting their weekend games, defeating the Pandas in a five set match that saw both teams play excellent volleyball. Kara JansenVanDoorn led the Spartans with 23 kills on the night while digging 10 spikes. Chelsea Hudson continued her strong play, dishing out 46 assists to her teammates, who had to use extra points in the fifth set to secure the victory. The Spartans victory (25-21, 26-24, 15-25, 19-25, 16-14) was summed up by head coach Ryan Hofer in an interview with Spartans Athletics who noted, “We were grinding tonight. We weren’t as smooth as we normally are, but our girls gutted it out and it is a win and will take it”.

The Spartans then again hosted the Pandas on Saturday night with a different result. The Pandas played a more complete game that had the Spartans on their heels all night. Amy Leschied led the way for the Spartans with 11 kills, but they were swept aside by the Pandas (26-24, 25-27, 25-24). The weekend split for the Spartans leaves their record overall at 7-1 and they will take on Winnipeg this upcoming weekend at the LEC.

Men’s:

On the men’s side, the Pandas team was looking to keep their perfect record. But on Friday, the Spartans wouldn’t give it to them. The Spartans made quick work of the Pandas team, defeating them in only three sets (25-20, 25-23, 25-23) to end the Alberta winning streak at four games. Rudy Verhoeff and Mikiah Schalk led the way offensively for the Spartans with 15 and 13 kills respectively to improve the overall record to 6-1.

However, much like the women’s team on Friday, the Pandas mission was simple on Saturday night: retaliation. The Pandas came out looking like a top CIS team and defeated the Spartans in four sets (25-12, 25-17, 27-29, 25-18) that saw three players on the Alberta team with over 10 kills. Verhoeff and Josh Doornenball led the way for the Spartans while Ben Ball had 36 assists.

The Spartans return home this upcoming weekend to take on Winnipeg at the LEC.