Varsity Update - February 20, 2012
OCAA Badminton
For the second straight year the Mohawk College team of Chris Hong and Mohammed Nazimuddin won the silver medal in men's doubles at the OCAA Badminton Championships.
The Mountaineer team defeated the Humber tandem of Dustin Mitchell and Johnny Truong in semi final play at Redeemer University College in Ancaster February 18.
They then had to face the only team to beat them in this year's championship, top seeded Dayvon Reid and Mark Wong and the George Brown pair defeated them again, taking Hong and Nazimuddin in two straight games for the gold medal.
The Mohawk pair scored four wins in the prelims, over Centennial, Seneca, Humber and Georgian.
OCAA Curling
There was no medal for Mohawk College at this year's OCAA Curling Championships in Sault Ste. Marie.
The Mountaineers were defeated 6-5 by host and eventual champion Sault College in a tie-breaker February 18.
After a back and forth game, the Sandy Toole Mohawk rink stole a point in the seventh end, but came up one short of the Cougars foursome.
The Mountaineer women, pulled off a sensational comeback on day one of the event. They trailed Confederation College of Thunder Bay 6-1 after five ends, but scored two in the 6th end, stole one in the 7th and two more in the 8th to force an extra end. They then stole a single to win 7-6.
They upped their mark to 2-0 with a 9-6 win over Sault College. Fleming College of Lindsay beat Mohawk 8-5, Humber then stole five points in the seventh to beat the Mountaineers 11-5.So Mohawk finished pool play with a 2-2 record, setting up the tie-breaker with the Sault Cougars.
Other members of the Toole rink included vice Jennifer Montgomery, second Christine Moore and lead Sarah McFarlane, who was named second team all-star at her position.
The Mohawk men, skipped by Wesley Steen, missed out as well, finishing with a 2-6 record in the round robin portion of their event. The Mountaineer men had three games on day one and finished 2-1. They dropped their opener, 6-3 to Confederation, but they bounced back to down Fleming College of Lindsay 8-3, despite falling behind 2-0 in the first end. It was a similar scenario against eventual champion Sault College. The hosts led 2-0 after the first end, but then it was all Mohawk the rest of the way, en route to a 7-2 decision. On day two they lost 10-5 to Niagara, 5-2 to Humber and 8-2 to Fanshawe. They then bowed 9-4 to Fleming College of Peterborough and 9-5 to St. Clair.
The Mohawk men won the Ron Fearon Fair Play Award.
Other members of the Steen foursome included vice Cody Strong, second James Maslen and lead Jordan Crockett. Luc Seguin is also with the rink as a spare.
Men's Volleyball
Justin Scapinello had 15 offensive points to lead Mohawk to a 25-20, 25-21, 25-19 sweep of La Cite Coyotes in a men's volleyball playoff qualifier at the Fennell Gym February 18. Scapinello had 11 kills, three service aces and one stuff block, while teammate Ian Cameron had 11 kills, one ace and one block for 13 points.
Cedric Crete scored six kills, two aces and two blocks for La Cite.
With the victory the Mountaineers advanced to the OCAA Championship at Nipissing University in North Bay February 23-25. Mohawk will play Seneca in the quarter finals.
On February 15, Mohawk completed it's regular season at 13-5, with an exciting 22-25, 17-25, 27-25, 25-21, 15-13 decision over Fanshawe.
Women's Volleyball
Mohawk turned in a strong effort but bowed 19-25, 12-25, 25-23, 23-25 to Fanshawe in their season finale.
Kristin VanHartingsveldt led the way for Mohawk with five kills, three service aces and three stuff blocks. Liz Pollock made her first start of the season at Rightside and scored seven kills and two aces.
"This was a wonderful way to finish a very disappointing season," said head coach Andrew Nicholson. "The team played with pride and passion throughout the match. Next season will see Mohawk with a rookie laden lineup as we move towards a culture change in the program."
The Mountaineers did not make the post season, finishing with a 3-15 record.
Men's Basketball
Aminu Bello scored 37 points to power Mohawk over Redeemer 97-58 in men's basketball February 16 at the Fennell Gym. No one else on the Mountaineers reached double figures but every other player in the lineup got at least one point, as the team improved to 12-5 with it's second straight victory and seventh in eight games on home court this OCAA season.
Mohawk plays host to Humber February 22 at 8:00 pm to finish the regular season. The Hawks are in first place with a 15-2 record, but it's an important game for the Mountaineers who are tied for fourth place in the West Region with Fanshawe, which has finished it's regular schedule. They are two points behind Algoma.
Women's Basketball
Rachelle Abella hooped 32 points as the women's basketball team ripped Redeemer 81-58 February 16 at Mohawk. Abella also contributed three rebounds, four assists and eight steals, Marina Ciannavei scored 12 points for the Mountaineers, who won their second in a row to go to 8-9 and sit in a three-way tie for fifth place in the West Region with one regular season game left, versus Humber, February 22 at 6:00 pm at the Fennell Gym.
