Varsity Update - March 1, 2010
OCAA Women’s Volleyball
The Mohawk women won the bronze medal at the OCAA Women's Volleyball Championship in Sudbury February 27.
The Mountaineers won a tough 25-23, 25-19 23-25, 23-25, 15-11 battle with the Fanshawe Falcons. After winning the first two sets and then losing the next two, Mohawk pulled through. CCAA All-Canadian Jenn Knowles had 19 kills and two aces. Jenna Gignac recorded 12 kills, one block, two aces and 26 digs. Leah Waxman added 12 kills, one block, two aces and 18 digs.
The gold medal went to Humber, 3-2 over Nipissing.
Mohawk head coach Sean Pellow was very proud of how his team came through the match with Fanshawe, a much tougher team than anybody gave them credit for. Pellow said, even with some errors, his team had control in each match, had solid serving and players stepped into new roles with class and dignity, as well as poise and skill. It was Pellow’s first year coaching the team and he had to deal with injuries and players out of position, but said they did everything he asked of them. While the team will lose Waxman, Rachel VanHartingsveldt, Allison Feliciano and Corrie McIlveen , there will be great players returning next season plus new arrivals to fill the gap. Pellow feels Mohawk can remain amongst the top teams in the province, but admits only time will tell.
OCAA Men’s Volleyball
Things were looking pretty good for Mohawk in the bronze medal match at the OCAA Men's Volleyball Championship at Redeemer February 27. The Mountaineers grabbed a 2-0 lead in sets just to have the host Royals storm back to win 17-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-15, 15-10. Mo Sulaiman had 13 kills and 18 points for Mohawk, while teammate Chris Davidson had 15 points, 12 of them from kills. Humber Hawks swept the Seneca Sting 3-0 for the gold medal.
Mohawk coach Matt Schnarr said it was an up and down season for his side. They got off to an surprising 7-1 record, but then struggled because of injuries and other issues in the second semester. “The (playoff) game against Trent was a great way to go into the championship, said Schnarr. “We controlled the play beginning to end. With an injury to Ian Cameron, our boys stepped up. After a loss to Seneca we handled Fanshawe and Durham easily to move into the bronze medal match versus Redeemer. We controlled the match early, but ran out of steam. Our play was led by setter Zac Schulz and middle hitter Cam Henschel all weekend.” Schnarr said next season a solid core will return, with Schulz, Sulaiman, Mitchell Sawatsky and Andrew Ross all back for a chance to push for an OCAA gold medal.
Men’s Playoff Basketball
Mohawk’s OCAA men’s basketball aspirations were dashed in Peterborough February 27 when the Fleming College Knights won their playoff qualifier 76-68 to advance to the championship. It was a disappointing end for Mohawk, which, after going 3-5 to start the season, got on a roll and reeled off eight wins in their next 10 games to finish 11-7. “It was an extremely tough loss (to Fleming), said Mohawk head coach Brian Jonker. “It was very tight throughout. It was a very disappointing way to end a season that seemed to deserve more.” Jonker felt his players worked very hard and the future looks bright with a strong returning core. But he felt for the seniors who gave a great effort and won’t return. “Ryan (Carrafiello), in particular, worked so hard to come back from his knee injury and he played a strong 20 minutes.” Mike Soluk led the Mountaineers with 18 points. Tanner Lane scored 16, Alex Reis had 11 and Carrafiello, 10.
