Wesmen Athletics
Wesmen Fall Short In Bronze Medal Match
The Women's Volleyball Team Lost In Straight Sets To Trinity Western In The Bronze Medal Match Saturday Night At The Canada West Final Four In Vancouver..
Saturday, February 25
Trinity Western def Wesmen 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 30-28) Boxscore
Wesmen Fall Short In Bronze Medal Match
The Trinity Western University Spartans defeated the Winnipeg Wesmen in straight sets (25-23, 25-18, 30-28) in the bronze medal match at the Canada West Final Four Saturday evening in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Spartans with the win grab the last Canada West berth in next week's CIS Women's Volleyball Championships at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
Royal Richardson led the Spartans with a match high 10 kills. Kelci French added eight while Amy Leschied finished with six kills. Alicia Perrin finished with 11 blocks.
Fifth year middle Lauren Sears had eight kills, four aces and six blocks for the Wesmen. Carleen Kruschel added eight kills. Ozana Nikolic had six kills and a team high 13 digs. Fifth year libero Tesca Andrew-Wasylik had 11 digs.
Winnipeg came out jumping in the first set, racing off to a 7-2 lead. The lead was short lived as the Spartans went on a 14-4 run to take a 16-11 lead at the technical timeout. The Spartans increased their lead to 20-12 and later 24-18 when Winnipeg made things interesting. Winnipeg fought off five set points to close the gap to 24-23 but on the next rally a kill by Amy Leschied gave the Spartans the first set by a score of 25-23.
In the second set the Spartans continued to hold the Wesmen attack at bay. After Trinity Western led 4-1 early on, the Wesmen, with help by back-to-back service aces by Lauren Sears tied the score at 6-6. The Spartans strong blocking soon after helped them to a 16-10 lead at the technical timeout. Trinity Western went on to win the second set 25-18.
In a dramatic third set, the Spartans led 16-12 at the technical break and 24-20 late in the set. A determined Wesmen squad with Alicia Perry serving scored five straight points to lead 25-24. The teams exchanged points and battled all the way to 28-28 late in the set. A Winnipeg service error and a kill by Royal Richardson closed out the match with the Spartans winning the set 30-28.
"Without question we are a young team and I'm very proud of the way our players competed this weekend and throughout the season," sais Wesmen head coach Diane Scott. "It wasn't a fluke that we got here. We were competitive and gutsy throughout the year and earned our way here so I'm very proud of that. For right now this is going to sting, but I think it will be a great experience to feed off and learn from going forward."
Fifth year middle Lauren Sears and fifth year libero Tesca Andrew-Wasylik played their final match as a Wesmen. Sears played her entire five years at the University of Winnipeg. Andrew-Wasylik played four year at Wilfred Laurier prior to joining the Wesmen.
Friday, February 24
Pandas Win In Five, Wesmen To Play Trinity For Bronze
Semi Final - Alberta def Wesmen 3-2 (13-25,26-24,24-26,27-25,15-8) Boxscore
The Alberta Pandas defeated the Winnipeg Wesmen 3-2 (13-25,26-24,24-26,27-25,15-8) in a semi final match at the Canada West Final Four in Vancouver, British Columbia Friday evening.
Winnipeg will play Trinity Western in the bronze medal match Saturday night at 8:15 p.m. (Wpg Time). The winner receives the final Canada West berth in the CIS Women's Volleyball Championships at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario (March 2-4). UBC and Alberta both qualified with their respective wins.
Alena Omelchenko led the Pandas with a match high 21 kills. Jaki Ellis added 12 kills and 14 digs while Alyssa Jones had nine kills and 17 digs.
Winnipeg was led by Ozana Nikolic's 16 kils. Nikolic also had 19 digs and five blocks. Lauren Sears added 15 kills and six blocks. Erika Buchanan finished with 12 kills and six blocks. Carleen Kruschel had 11 kills, three service aces and three blocks.
The Wesmen started the contest on fire, dominating the opening set from start to finish. Winnipeg won the opening set 25-13.
The Pandas' who trailed for the majority of the match, had their last lead in the second set at 8-7, and they trailed the rest of the way until the late rally started. Down 22-19, they got two blocks, a kill from Omelchenko and a kill from Jaki Ellis to make the score 24-23.
Krista Zubick then put down back to back kills to set up game point, and Ellis wasted no time in capitalizing on the chance with a service ace to tie the match at one game each.
Winnipeg fought off another Panda comeback in the third set and closed out the set on a kill by Ozana Nikolic to win the set 26-24 and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Winnipeg led for the entire fourth set and looked poised to put the match away up 23-19, but another miracle run saved the Pandas. A pair of kills made it 23-21, and then two Wesmen errors tied the game at 23. The teams exchanged points to 25-25 but Alberta scored the final two points to win the fourth set 27-25.
The Pandas were digging themselves out of holes all night until the fifth set, when they finally build a lead of their own rather than relying on late-set heroics. A 7-0 run gave them a 10-3 lead, and they eventually went on to win the fifth set 15-8.
