By Emma Rick-Hyde
The Thunder men’s volleyball team brought in a win after three straight sets during their home game against Trent University on Jan.24.
Algonquin demonstrated a great attack throughout the whole game, and managed to stay focused as they played out their game plan for the first time.
“We hit really well, and we played with good backcourt game,” said team captain Philippe Yeldon, who plays left side.
Trent brought on a challenge during the second set, but the Thunder managed to dominate in both the first and third.
Ties were scattered throughout the entirety of the second set when Trent managed to stay neck and neck with the Thunder. They were able to tie the game five times before Algonquin could pull away and win the set at 25-20.
The first set began with Trent keeping up with the Thunder, tying the game once at 5 points. But the Thunder were slick and took a hold of the game, leaving Trent far behind with a winning score of 25-12.
In the third and final set, the Thunder were able to dominate early on in the same with a four-point lead that grew until they were left with the 25-14 they finished with.
Philippe Yeldon and Patrick Goulet were the top attackers for the Thunder, managing 24 and 18 attacks respectively. The entire team was able to serve well, and sticking to the game plan allowed them to take home an easy win.
“It was a good game,” said coach Jay Mooney. “They were a weaker team, and we stayed focused.”
By Katie Dahl
After battling a close first and third set, the Thunder men’s volleyball team added another win to their season record that now stands 11-1 against La Cité Collegiale on Jan. 15.
Strong passing and good ball control kept the Thunder on track and allowed them to take three sets from the Coyotes who put up a strong fight.
The Thunder managed a close 28-26 win in the first set, however it was not as easy a win as anticipated by team captain Phil Yeldon.
“We came in over-confident,” said Yeldon. “We were too relaxed.”
Assistant coach Dwain Blair felt that the team made too many mistakes in the first set and had too many forced errors. They corrected this through the second half of the set, as well as in set two by executing plays as practiced as well as having strong passing.
A strong spike from Eric Girad got the Algonquin fans excited and helped to close the gap in the score, allowing the Thunder to regain control of the game in the second half of set one
This set the pace as the Thunder got the momentum going early in set two with three quick points with the help of successful serves by Mozafar Abdoli. The second set was played with more precision and control ending with a 25-16 score.
The third set was another close one with La Cité taking the lead for the first time since set one. With the setters having good control, of the game and strong skills, the Thunder held on and finished the 3-0 sweep with a final set score of 25-20 over the Coyotes.
“[La Cité] didn’t roll over as expected, said Blair. “[They had] strong defensive play.”
Although Yeldon didn’t consider it to be their best overall game he was still “going home happy” with another check in the win column.