Men's Volleyball 2010-11
here Silver Lining to Golden Volleyball Weekend
Blazer Volleyball Teams Take Silver at MCAC Finals – CMU Athletes Named as MCAC All Conference SelectionsThere was a measure of accomplishment and a measure of disappointment in the weekend’s MCAC Final Four Championships at Red River College for the CMU volleyball teams, held March 4-5, 2011.
After a series of back and forth battles with the CUSB Voyageurs that stretch back several seasons, the CMU men entering as the #2 team made short work of their cross-river rivals from St-Boniface, winning 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-19) to advance to Saturday’s gold medal match. The Blazers were led by Todd Reimer’s 11 kills and 3 digs and Josh Krueger’s 8 kills and 4 digs. It was a major accomplishment to play well under pressure for the CMU men and that confidence allowed Mark Kliewer’s 7-5 team to keep their foot on the pedal in Saturday’s gold medal match.
On the women’s side, CMU was the odds on favourite to comfortably cruise to a third-consecutive title. With a record of 15-1, the Blazers only loss of the season came in a tie-breaking set at Providence College in February. Their first-round opponents were Assiniboine Community College from Brandon. Despite dropping the third set 22-25, the Blazers had little trouble righting the ship in the fourth set to record a 3-1 victory and sail into the Saturday’s gold medal match – a meeting with the only team to tarnish their perfect season, Providence College.A capacity crowd of more than 600 fans packed Red River College to witness the championship matches on Saturday evening. CMU’s women’s team jumped out to a 25-19 first set win on the back of some consistent serving from League MVP Evelyn Kampen, only to see Providence emerge in the second set with a 25-23 win. The two combatants exchanged wins in the third and fourth set, preparing the way for a monumental tie-break with the Championships hanging in the balance. Providence middle Victoria Ryshytylo, later selected tournament MVP, was the dominant figure in the final set, pushing the #3 ranked Freemen on to victory, while the defending-champions had to settle for silver. Freemen’s Jessica Hamm and fourth-year Blazer Kirsten Hamm were named players of the game.
The men’s match was equally thrilling and high on confidence, CMU was certainly ready to challenge for gold. The three-time defending champions and undefeated Red River Rebels were a formidable opposition. The teams see-sawed through the first match, exchanging points, serves, and sideouts. The Rebels eventually emerged to take the first set 27-25 and a 1-0 lead. But the Blazers battled back. Great defense from Nick Reimer, Todd Reimer, and all-conference libero Josh Ewert, propelled CMU to a 25-21 win in a match delayed 15 minutes due to an on-court injury suffered by Rebel middle David Glass. Glass collided with a teammate at 17-18 and was not able to return to action until the third set. League MVP Tom Oosterveen provided the muscle for the Rebels down the stretch and despite the incredible defensive plays at the net and in the backrow, CMU was unable to get back on the front-foot. The Rebels took the third set 25-20 and the fourth set 25-15 to win gold on home court. Rebel Tom Oosterveen and Blazer Todd Reimer were named players of the game.Four CMU Athletes Named to All Conference Selections
Saturday’s awards ceremony saw MCAC name four CMU athletes to all conference selections: League MVP Evelyn Kampen (WVB), Clare Schellenberg (WVB), Josh Ewert (MVB), and Shawn Franz (MVB).
Competing in the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference, CMU plays in a league comprised of nine universities and colleges in Manitoba and Minnesota. CMU is also a member of the Association of Christian College Athletics (ACCA). CMU Blazer teams compete in soccer, volleyball, and basketball from September to March, playing MCAC league games as well as a number of tournaments with universities and colleges in Canada and the US.
Date posted March 10, 2011
CMU GOES FOR GOLD
The 2011 MCAC Women’s and Men’s Volleyball Championships will take place this Friday and Saturday at Red River College’s Notre Dame Campus. Your top-ranked CMU women’s volleyball team will take to the court in semi-final #1 against fourth-ranked Assiniboine Community College from Brandon, Manitoba. The Cougars will rely heavily on outside hitters Rhyleigh Gabrielle and Amanda Chambers, who have been consistent attackers all season. As defending champions, CMU will be led by fourth-years Evelyn Kampen and Kirsten Hamm. The CMU women will take the court in their conference semi on Friday afternoon at 2 pm against the Cougars.Ranked as the #2 team, the Blazer men are preparing for an epic showdown with the third-place St-Boniface Voyageurs. The two teams have quite a rivalry dating back to last season’s conference semi, when St-Boniface upset CMU in Brandon to qualify for the gold-medal match. This season, CMU found retribution in their first meeting in October, but were then eliminated from the Western Canadian Championships by les Voyageurs in a non-conference tournament at Saskatoon in November. This month the two teams split matches, setting up this massive semi-final tilt. The Voyageurs recently welcomed back all-conference setter Robert Mogg. Mogg is in a class of his own in the MCAC, and his decision-making certainly adds venom to some already potent outside hitters. Closing blocks and back-row defense will be a key ingredient in CMU’s game-plan if they hope to qualify for Saturday’s Gold Medal Match. The two teams take the court on Friday afternoon at 4pm, also at Red River’s Notre Dame Campus.
2011 MCAC Volleyball Championship Schedule
Friday, March 4th
Women’s Semi-Final #1
Featuring #1 CMU vs. #4 Assiniboine
Match Time – 2 pm
Men’s Semi-Final #1
Featuring #2 CMU vs. #3 College Universitaire de St-Boniface
Match Time – 4 pm
Women’s Semi-Final #2
Featuring #2 Red River vs. #3 Providence College
Match Time – 6 pm
Men’s Semi-Final #2
Featuring #1 Red River vs. #4 Assiniboine
Saturday, March 5th
Women’s Bronze Medal Match
Teams to be determined
Match Time – 2 pm
Men’s Bronze Medal Match
Teams to be determined
Match Time – 4 pm
Women’s Gold Medal Match
Teams to be determined
Match Time – 6 pm
Men’s Gold Medal Match
Teams to be determined
Match Time – 8 pm
Date Feb 28, 2011
BLAZERS TAKE TORONTO BY STORM
Inclusion in the Canadian College Athletics Association is the top priority of the MCAC, but being able to compete in the national conference that includes such volleyball powerhouses as Red Deer College, UBC – Okanagan, Humber College and Vancouver Island University is the common task that the Manitoba Colleges and Universities are up against.Riding the tail of success that the women’s volleyball team experienced earlier in the month, qualifying for the semi-final in the Adidas Cup, the CMU men faced top CCAA competition at the Seneca Cup in Toronto and they too passed the test.
The Blazers opened their tournament in exciting fashion, downing the Niagara Knights 3-1. A straight-set lose to nationally ranked (#8) Fanshawe College, set up a must win for CMU if they had any hopes of advance from their pool to the semi-finals. The match pitted 13-0 Durham College, current leaders of the OCAA’s East Division, against the CMU, who sit second in the MCAC for the right to play the Nippissing Lakers in the tournament semis.
Incredibly in was the Manitobans that made short work of the undefeated Durham Lords in the contest. Led by first year power Nick Reimer (8 kills) and third-year middle Josh Krueger (8 kills), and the stellar blocking of middle Kailan Janzen (7 blocks), the Blazers swept Durham 3-0 to advance the bronze medal match.
“It was the best we have played this season”, said a confident coach Mark Kliewer. The Blazers return to conference play carrying this achievement proudly – a top-four finish in a major CCAA tournament.
Date Feb 3, 2011
MASSIVE WIN FOR CMU
It was a victory of monumental proportions for the CMU men’s volleyball team on Wednesday night when they defeated Providence College 3-1 in front of a sell-out home crowd (26-24, 25-19, 23-25, 25-17). “This was a huge win for us and our program”, was the comment from fourth-year head coach Mark Kliewer, “we really took momentum out of the first set and road it right through the match.” Left-sides Todd and Nick Reimer were the top scorers for the Blazers. Todd, the elder Reimer, pounded 13 kills and two service aces alongside 4 stuff blocks and 5 digs. Nick Reimer, who was very consistent with his jump serve in the match, posted 11 kills in the win. Middle Josh Krueger led CMU defensively with 6 blocks in the match.The two rivals meet again on Friday night in Otterburne, when CMU will try to make it back to back wins. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 pm.
Date Feb 3, 2011
FAMILIAR FOES UPSET CMU
After cruising through pool play at the 2010 Western Canadian College Volleyball Championships in Saskatoon last weekend, the CMU men’s team let a medal slip away when they dropped a hard-fought quarter-final match to College Universitaire de St-Boniface, 22-25, 23-25. The Voyageurs and Blazers are familiar volleyball combatants. The two local rivals have locked horns each of the past two season in MCAC conference semi-finals and regular season matches are often five-set marathons with a different winner each time. “It was terribly disappointing to lose to St-Boniface and at the same time, lose our chance at a medal,” commented CMU head coach Mark Kliewer. “overall we played pretty well and we had some really close competitions in our Friday matches.“ CMU got standout performances in the tournament from second-year Todd Reimer who led all CMU scorers with 28 kills over the eight-set weekend. First-year Shawn Franz added 18 kills for the Blazers.CMU successfully swept their Friday pool play, winning 25-22, 25-23 over Great Plains College, 25-20, 25-19 over Bethany College and 25-23, 25-19 over Ambrose University College. The next action for the men’s volleyball team is in 2011, when they travel to Seneca College in Toronto to participate in the Sting Volleyball Classic, January 7-8.
Date November 30, 2010
CMU Men Drop Series to Rebels
Billed as the Route 90 Showdown, the two undefeated MCAC men’s volleyball teams took centre-court on Friday and Saturday to settle their differences at Red River’s Notre Dame campus. In both matches, it was defending champions Red River that showed their dominance winning 3-1 on Friday night and in straight sets on Saturday. “We were in the match on Friday, but on Saturday our serving let us down and we had a hard time getting things going,” stated CMU assistant coach Jaron Friesen. The Blazers were led by team captain Todd Reimer in Friday’s match who led all scorers with 13 kills and picked up 5 digs on defense. First-year power Shawn Franz has shown steady improvement this season, pounding 9 kills to go alongside 6 digs on Friday night and added 8 kills on Saturday for the Blazers. Middle Kailan Janzen had a game-high 6 stuff blocks in Friday’s match while fourth-year libero Josh Ewert posted 12 digs on Saturday.
The next action for CMU is this weekend in Saskatoon at the Western Canadian College Championships. With preseason Saskatchewan success already under their belts, the Blazer enter this chance at a banner with high expectations. CMU is grouped with Great Plains College (Swift Current, SK) Bethany College (Hepburn, SK) and Ambrose University College (Calgary, AB) and though they enter ranked first, the Blazers are certainly not a clear #1. “We will certainly have some tough matches” says head coach Mark Kliewer. “Anything less than a medal for us would be very disappointing, but it will take a full team effort for us to be successful this weekend.” All matches take place at The Saskatoon Kinsmen/Henk Ruys Soccer Centre, 219 Primrose Drive.
Mens Volleyball Photos vs Red River Nov 20
Date November 23, 2010
CMU Remains Undefeated
CMU clawed their way back on Saturday to defeat the Assiniboine Cougars 3-2(25-15,25-21,17-25,22-25,15-7) in MCAC men's volleyball action from Brandon. The 3-0 Blazers jumped ahead with comfortable wins in the opening two sets led by first-year middle Kailan Janzen and second-year left-side Todd Reimer. But the Blazer blinked in sets three and four and let the winless Cougars back into the game. "That was an eye-opener for us," explained CMU head coach Mark Kliewer, "They surprised us with their fight, but we were able to collect ourselves and steal the game back." Reimer led all scorers with 12 kills over the five-set match, adding 2 blocks and 2 services aces. Janzen pounded seven kills for CMU.In the opening match earlier Saturday afternoon, CMU made much shorter work of their West-Man opponents. The Blazers defeated the Cougars in straight-sets 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-23). CMU was led by first-year powers Nick Reimer (6 kills, 3 service aces) and Marc Murie (5 kills, 5 service aces).
The Blazers look to keep their perfect away record in tact this week as they play at St-Boniface on Wednesday night, and at Red River (Notre Dame Campus) on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon in a showdown for first-place.
Mens Volleyball Photos Nov 13
Date November 17, 2010
BLAZERS SERVE UP EXCITEMENT!
It was an much improved effort for the CMU men’s volleyball on home court Friday night, when they hosted Providence. Earlier in the week, the two foes got their 2010 seasons underway in Otterburne, and it was Providence who got the upper-hand in the series, winning in straight sets by considerably lopsided scores (25-15, 25-16, 25-15). “That effort was incredibly disappointing,” said captain Todd Reimer, “we looked uninspired and we came out flat.”A near capacity crowd and a will to play to their own expectations, gave life to the Blazers on Friday night. Loaded with experience, the Freemen are a formidable rotation boasting a team of only three newcomers, none who factored into the outcome of the match. Providence started the first game in a blur of points, scoring five consecutive from the serving of third-year setter Paul Warkentin. But CMU battled back. The Blazers drew level at 23-23, forcing head coach Jon Peter into a timeout, before Dallen Klassen served Providence on to victory in the set.
The second game was loaded with lead-exchanges and was the spectacle of the evening, finishing 29-27 and showcasing a number of exciting plays from both teams. Third-year middle Josh Krueger was a critical piece for CMU in the match. Krueger collected 10 kills and 6 stuff blocks over the three-set match and fellow first-year middle Kailan Janzen added 5 blocks – 4 of the solo-variety. Other offensive stars for CMU were Todd Reimer and first-year opposite Shawn Franz. Reimer recorded 10 kills from the left side and Franz picked up 6 from the right.
Though the effort was vastly improved for CMU and the match was highly-entertaining for the spectators, the Blazers were unable to finish off Providence in two sets where victory was within reach. The match ended 3-0 to Providence, with scores of (25-23, 29-27, 25-19).
Date October 25, 2010
CMU Wins Saskatchewan Gold
 |
 |
CMU’s Todd Reimer was selected to the tournament all-star team for his outstanding play over the weekend. The second-year power posted 6 kills and 6 services aces in a 2-1 semi-final victory of Great Plains College from Swift Current. The only blemish to CMU tournament record came on Saturday morning when they fell in a 2-1 thriller to Millar 22-25, 25-23, 16-17.
In all, the Blazers finished with a 6-1 record over the weekend; a performance that certainly pleased fourth-year coach Mark Kliewer. “ Overall it was a great team effort with a different player stepping up and leading us to victory each match”, said Kliewer “The improvement from game 1 to game 7 was significant and the guys got more comfortable playing together each match.”
Date October 5, 2010