sports
30 Warriors upset Brock, lose to WLU
Friday, February 2, 2007
Waterloo loses two more Shawn Bell sports editor
photos by Shawn Bell
Laurier hit the final free throw; Kimberly Lee walks off; she scored 14 points and nine rebounds but missed the final shot. Shawn Bell sports editor
On January 24, CIS ranked eighth Brock visited the PAC; the Warriors upset the highly favoured Badgers with a total defensive effort. Then, four days later, Waterloo traveled down the road to Laurier and were upset themselves, 63-62 after a late Golden Hawk comeback. In the back-and-forth game against Brock, the Warriors’ full-court pressing defence held the normally prolific Badger scorers down. Despite Gillian Maxwell’s 14 boards, the Warriors lost the rebound battle 37-33; and though Brock tied the game to end the third quarter, Waterloo came out hard in the fourth, winning the quarter and the game. Kate Poulin led the way with 16 points, 6 steals and 5 rebounds. Then, January 27 at Laurier, Waterloo took a 9-point lead into the final minutes but couldn’t hang
on. Laurier went on a run, tied the game by hitting threes, and with 12 seconds left on the clock, got fouled and went to the line — the Hawk made one of two and Laurier went up by one. Kimberley Lee had a shot at the buzzer to win fall short. Lee led the way on offence for the Warriors, with 14 points and nine rebounds. Poulin scored 13, grabbed seven boards and three steals. The split leaves Waterloo (10-8) with 20 points, in fifth; they are 2 points down of Brock and 2 points up on Lakehead. The top six teams make the playoffs; seed three and four earn a home game in the quarter-finals. This week McMaster comes to the PAC January 31 (results unavailable at press time). Then, on February 3, at 1:00 p.m. in PAC, the Warriors host Guelph (13-5) for the final home game of the season. sbell@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
Presents
THIS WEEK IN ATHLETICS
In the first set of the January 26 men’s volleyball match against McMaster, the Warrior’s trailed 22-15 and the set, against a very good Marauders side, was sliding away. That was when setter Andrew Thorpe turned to his big gun, Duncan Crains, to pull Waterloo through. Thorpe went to Crains three times in a row and just like that, Waterloo was in a battle. It wasn’t enough, and hasn’t that been about the story of the Warriors’ season? Mac pulled through in the first set, dominated the second, and won the third, despite Thorpe turning to the other young hitter, Tyler Vivian, and Waterloo’s late surge to 22-23. The next night Guelph, an inferior team tied with the Warriors for ninth in the OUA, came to the PAC and beat the home side in three straight sets. Waterloo now sits at 2-15, tenth. They have not won since Rememberance Day; that’s 10 straight losses. Included in that stretch is a five-game losing streak to open 2007. In four of those games Waterloo didn’t win a set. But hell, be positive. There is good to speak of, for while watching the men play Mac, I liked this team. They were outgunned and out-talented, but they were fighting for balls and the young stars looked like they really will be stars, specifically Thorpe, Crains and Vivian. True, Thorpe and Crains are freshmen, and Vivian has only a year under his belt. Yet they’re the leaders of this squad, on the floor at least, and it is good that they appear to be growing comfortable together. We’ll start with the vet, Tyler Vivian (top photo). The 6’2�, 170lb outside hitter carries himself with as much confidence as anyone on the team. He splits the number-one-option role with Crains, and over the weekend led Waterloo with 25 kills and 27 points. Thorpe looks for him, and Vivian seems more than happy to take a shot around, or right through, whatever block might be set. Next, the setter, Andrew Thorpe (middle photo). He’s good. In the two weekend games he dished out 55 assists. One he sent over Vivian’s head and the guys on the court smiled; the wild pass is a rare occurance with this kid. He’s 6’3�; chipped in with a couple of key blocks, plays defence, and in the first set against Mac, with the Warriors down 20-24, he stepped up to serve that lanky jumper and hit three good serves before Mac could put one down to win. Crains (bottom photo), the 6’3� 188 lb outside hitter from Georgetown, looks to be the turn-to guy on the floor.
VOLLEYBALL
Friday, February 2 Waterloo vs. Western Women @ 6 pm & 8 pm PAC Gym Saturday February 3 Waterloo vs. Windsor Women @ 6 pm & 8 pm PAC Gym
James Rowe staff reporter
Track and Field The Warriors competed in the McGill Team Challenge in Montreal on January 26 and 27. Although many UW competitors were able to lower their personal best times and improve their CIS rankings, Waterloo was unable to reach the podium in any of the events. The Warriors finished 9th out of 17 teams on the men’s side while the women’s team came in 13th place in the 14 team field. Both the men’s and women’s divisions were won by the University of Guelph Gryphons. UW will next compete in the York Classic on Saturday, February 3, in Toronto. Squash The Warriors wrapped up their regular season by playing three matches. On January 27, Waterloo tied Toronto 3-3 and then beat McGill 6-0 later in the same day. The following day the Warriors split 3-3 again, this time with Queen’s. Second-year student Eric Dingle had a big weekend, going 6-0 for the Warriors. The Warriors finished the season in second place in the OUA, trailing only Western. Waterloo now advances to the OUA Championships which will be hosted by McMaster on Saturday, February 10. The Warriors will meet U of T in their semi-final match.
photos by Simona CHerler
He and Vivian hold their own counsel but the rest of the team look to Crains when they get down. He looks short in the power spot, but boy can he jump; his 17 kills over the two games second only to Vivian. He’s a beach volleyball specialist who looks like a surfer; in the second set he showed an attitude to match, arguing a call and then lying on the floor after the next point, before being benched for the rest of the set. These are the things experience provides; regardless, he’ll have years of being the face and leader of the Warriors; let us hope he learns quick. There are three games left. Next up the Warriors are home to Western. Game time is 2:00 p.m. on Saturday at PAC.
Swimming On Saturday, January 27, the Warriors took part in a meet at Brock against Western, York, Trent, and the host Badgers. The Warriors’ men’s team was able to defeat Brock, York, and Trent but fell short against the Mustangs of UWO. The women were successful against Trent and York but were defeated by Brock and Western. The next day the UW teams took part in a meet against Laurier and Laurentian. The women were beaten by both of their opponents while the men came out on top. Both the men and women are now preparing for the OUA Championships which are being held in Guelph from February 9-11. jrowe@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 3 Waterloo vs. Guelph Women @ 1 pm ; Men @ 3 pm PAC GYM Listen Live on ckmsfm.ca
Women’s hockey
Saturday, February 3 Waterloo vs. Guelph 7:30 pm CIF Arena
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK ALEX WATSON, SWIMMING A fourth year Arts student from Oshawa, Ontario led the Warriors this past weekend. On Saturday agianst Brock, Western, Trent and York, Alex paced the Warriors with wins in the 100 and 200 butterfly. Alex continued his winning ways with firsts in the 100 fly and 100 free. In all of these victories Alex demonstrated that he has benefited from the Christmas training camp and is ready to have his best ever OUA championships in Guelph on Feb. 9-11.
GABY LESNIAK, VOLLEYBALL A third year Kinesiology Student from Hamilton, Ontario had a stellar weekend in matches against the #2 McMaster Marauders (L 3-1) and #4 Guelph Gryphons (W 3-0) in the OUA West division. Gaby, an OUA All-Star, led the Warriors in all statistical categories with a total of 18 kills, 1 assist, 2 service aces, 20 digs and 4 stuff blocks for the combined matches and was a noticeable force on the court the entire weekend. The Warriors remain in third place in the division after splitting the two matches.