Varsity Update - February 7, 2011
Men's Volleyball
Someone said all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately for Mohawk's men's volleyball team that was the story at the Fennell Gymnasium February 5.
The Mountaineers, who had turned their season around with a five game win string, ran into the Sheridan Bruins and bowed 25-16, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23. Mohawk's record fell to 10-6, while Sheridan improved to 11-3.
"Sheridan came out very strong as we struggled on the serve and pass part of our game, said Mohawk head coach Matt Schnarr. "After the first two sets, we decided to wake up and start playing, down six points in the third set with our backs against the wall, we showed some life and came back to win it. In the fourth set it was much of the same story. We were down 7-1 at the beginning and 19-13 and we came back to tie it up at 23-23 and a tough call was made on us at 24 and we couldn't rebound on match point".
Andrew Ross had a great game coming off the bench with 10 kills and one stuff block. Cam Henschel and Kevin Teskey were forces in the middle offensively, getting eight and seven kills respectively.
Earlier in the week, the Mohawk men posted a pair of match victories. Against visiting St. Clair February 1 the Mountaineers won 25-20, 25-20, 25-16. Mo Sulaiman had seven kills and eight aces, while Justin Scapinello added 10 kills and two blocks. Zac Schulz had four kills and a block but also set a very efficient offense.
February 3 at Conestoga, the Mountaineers made it five straight wins, 25-16, 25-20, 25-15 over the Condors. Sulaiman had eight kills and a terrific game passing. Ryan dela Rosa contributed seven digs and also passed well. Teskey had five kills and two blocks and Justin DesRoche had just two blocks but came off the bench and played a great game, according to coach Schnarr.
Women's Volleyball
The Mohawk women's volleyball squad swept Sheridan 25-17, 27-25, 25-9 at home February 5. The Mountaineers stretched their record to 15-4, while the Bruins went to 11-7.
Jennifer Knowles collected 11 kills, two stuff blocks and 20 digs. Jenna Gignac had 11 kills, two blocks and one service ace. Amanda DeHaan contributed five kills, two blocks and two aces; Candice Kragten had five kills, seven blocks and two aces. Kristie Crnic led in serve receive passing with an exceptional 2.5 while Jenn Knowles helped out, passing at 2.1. "(It was a) total team effort, said head coach Sean Pellow. "We are still trying to play the consistent, aggressive game for three full sets. We're not quite there yet, but getting closer.
The match capped a busy week for the women's volleyball team. February 1 they played host to St. Clair and defeated them 25-22, 25-18, 25-20. Jennifer Knowles had 19 kills, one ace and three blocks. Andrea Garbaty added two kills and five blocks.
February 3 the Mountaineers were off to Kitchener to face Conestoga Condors, winning 25-11, 25-17, 25-16. Jenna Gignac posted 11 kills, 13 digs, three aces and two blocks, while Jennifer Knowles contributed six kills, two aces and two blocks.
Men's Basketball
It was a disappointing night for Mohawk's men's basketball team against Sheridan in Oakville February 5.
It was a close one, but the Bruins improved to 12-3 in the West Region with a 91-88 decision over the Mountaineers, who slipped to 9-5.
Five Mohawk players scored in double figures despite the loss. Aminu Bello was the lead man with 24 points. Tanner Lane had 15, Taylor Dowhaniuk and Jermaine DeCosta each had 13 and Alex Reis scored 12 points. Sheridan led by six points at the half.
"We led by one with about 20 seconds left when their point guard hit a very long three, said Mohawk head coach Brian Jonker. "It was a real tough loss. I thought we played well enough to win on the road but ultimately didn't get it done. Back to the drawing board with two big home games next weekend."
Women's Basketball
The powerful Sheridan women's team upped its record to 11-0 with a 75-49 romp over the Mountaineers, who fell to 2-9.
Morgan Taylor scored 14 points, Casey Boggs had eight and Rachelle Abella added six. "The score was not indicative of how we played, said Mountaineers' head coach Kevin Duffy. "Again our shooting was our achilles heel, as we missed many shots at key points in the game. Defensively we had a lot of mental breakdowns and they capitalized hitting eight three pointers. We told the girls that the good news is that we still control our own destiny as basically the playoffs start next week and we need to take it one game at a time."
West Regional Badminton
The team of Chris Hong and Mohammad Nazimuddin will represent Mohawk College at the OCAA Badminton Championships in London later this month. They finished second in the men's doubles section of the West Regionals held at Mohawk's Fennell Gymnasium this weekend (Feb. 4-5).
Hong and Nazimuddin finished with a 5-1 record. The Mark Wong-Timothy Lam team from Humber won with a 6-0 mark. They had a real battle against the Mohawk tandem, rallying to win 16-21. 23-21, 21-16.
Mohawk was not entered in the women's doubles which was won by the Humber team of Renee Yip and Alyssa Woon at 5-0.
In mixed play, Mohawk's duo of Alicia Jenkins and Kien Tran wound up 5th with a 2-4 mark. Julie Schell and Vuong (Johnny) Tran took gold with a 6-0 record.
Mohawk's Nicolaas VanGemert finished 4th in his men's singles pool with a 2-3 record.
Mountaineer Le Nguyen was 5th in his pool at 2-4.
In women's singles, Mohawk's lone representative, Courtney Ustrzycki was 6th at 0-5.
The singles events went to playoffs and Christopher Dupuis of Humber downed Randall Brus of Redeemer in the men's gold medal match. Each will go to the OCAA championships as will another Humber player, Desmond Yao, who captured bronze.
In women's play, Tracy Wong of Humber beat Fanshawe's Annie Balgobin in the title match. Both move to the provincial event along with bronze medal winner Rebecca Woodstra of Redeemer.
The OCAA Championships will be at Fanshawe College in London February 18-19.
