March 2 Brock roundup: Keltos, House athletes of the week
Women’s basketball player Sam Keltos and men’s volleyball player Logan House were named the Brock University athletes of the week ending on March 1.
Keltos, a third-year centre from St. Catharines who is studying biological sciences, scored a career-high 42 points to lift the No. 8 women’s basketball team to their first Ontario University Athletics title since 1983 with a 84-71 win over the No. 2 Ryerson Rams in Toronto during the OUA Critelli Cup final on Feb. 29. Keltos went eight-for-nine from beyond the arc and was named the game’s MVP. She added 12 rebounds for her seventh career double-double.
House, a second-year outside hitter from Barrie who is studying social sciences, led the Brock men’s volleyball team with 15 kills during the OUA quarter-finals in Toronto on Feb. 29. House added 11 digs versus the No. 7 Toronto Varsity Blues during a 3-1 loss. It was Brock’s first playoff appearance since the program was reinstated in 2016.
BADGERS FACE DINOS
After an historic Saturday, the Brock Badgers women’s basketball team took another step forward in their remarkable season Sunday night.
The women’s program will enter the 2020 U SPORTS Final 8 Basketball Championship in Ottawa as the No. 2 seed, the highest the Badgers women have ever been ranked in their four championship berths. Only the Saskatchewan Huskies of Canada West sit higher than Brock heading into the tournament.
The rankings came out Sunday, a day after the Badgers upset the Ryerson Rams in their own building to win the OUA Critelli Cup.
“The ultimate goal is a national championship, but we still have a big game coming up to make the Final Four,” guard Melissa Tatti said following her team’s victory over the Rams. “We want to play for a medal. We’ve got to get back to practice and we’ve got to get going.”
The OUA champion Badgers will face the No. 7 Calgary Dinos of the Canada West conference on Thursday, March 5 at 3 p.m. The Dinos received the wild card berth on Sunday after being eliminated by the Alberta Pandas in the Canada West semifinals.
The U SPORTS championship continues through to the gold medal game Sunday afternoon. All games are being played inside the Arena at TD Place in Ottawa.
The Final 8 will be live streamed on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices.
Below is BPSN’s story on the championship game:
https://www.bpsportsniagara.com/zombie-keltos-leads-brock-to-oua-crown/
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
The women’s volleyball team is going to the OUA Final Four.
The Badgers tamed the York Lions 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-14) during the quarter-finals in front of a packed crowd which included Brock’s first volleyball coach, Gail MacPherson, who served from 1973-79, at Bob Davis Gymnasium on Saturday.
The last time Brock reached the semifinals was during the 1990-91 season.
The No. 8 Badgers will play the Guelph Gryphons, who upset the No. 4 Ryerson Rams, in the OUA Final Four at the University of Toronto’s Goldring Centre on Friday, March 6 at 6:30 p.m.
The No. 2 Toronto Varsity Blues will face the No. 10 Western Mustangs in the other semifinal match.
The two semifinal winners will play for the OUA Quigley Cup and also advance to the 2020 U SPORTS Volleyball Championship at the University of Calgary from March 13-15.
“We made a statement at the beginning of the year that we wanted to win the West and make the Final Four to win an OUA medal,” head coach Steve Delaney said. “We’ve accomplished some of those goals.”
Laura Condotta led the attack with 12 kills. She also registered 15 digs and three blocks.
Morgan Monkman hit for .467 with seven kills on 15 swings, including two service aces, eight digs and four blocks.
Christina Jovetic shut down the Lions’ offence with a game-high eight blocks while Grace Pyatt scored eight kills (.467) and threw up three blocks. Darby Taylor also contributed five blocks and five kills.
Aleiah Torres secured eight digs and Alanna Norris added four. Emily Armstrong dished out 27 assists
Sara Rohr came off the bench and had a couple of assists, including a key block. Tyler Garrick also contributed several clutch serves.
DELANEY NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR
The women’s volleyball team picked up a boatload of awards heading into their first OUA Final Four appearance since 1990-91.
Second-year head coach Steve Delaney was named OUA Coach of the Year (West) and five players earned all-star and rookie team honours.
Senior left side hitter Laura Condotta was named a First Team All-Star while fellow seniors Darby Taylor (right side) and Emily Armstrong (setter) were named Second Team All-Stars.
First-year players Samantha Casey (left side) and Aleiah Torres (libero) were named to the All-Rookie Team.
After making their first playoff appearance since 2015 last season, the Badgers posted one of their highest winning marks in program history.
Brock secured a total of 14 wins and were league leaders in several key categories, including points per set (16.1), kills per set (12.11) and assists per set (11.59).
“Although it’s great to be complimented by your coaching peers, I would trade that award in a heartbeat to win an OUA gold medal with this group,” Delaney said.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
The men’s volleyball team lost their OUA quarter-final match to the No. 7 Toronto Varsity Blues by a score of 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 22-25, 31-29) at Goldring Centre on Saturday afternoon in Toronto.
It was the first playoff appearance for the Brock men in the OUA quarter-finals since the program was rebooted in 2016.
Head coach Matt Ragogna said the experience did not disappoint.
“These guys are special because of everything on and away from the volleyball court,” Ragogna said. “We checked a lot of boxes of success this season, but I know they wanted more.”
Logan House scored 15 kills on 40 swings for a .300 kill percentage. House led the team with 11 digs followed by Ethan Kalef (nine) and Dean Globocki (eight).
Globocki also added eight kills while Nanle Yusuf contributed five.
After outhitting Toronto in the third set, the Badgers pushed the Blues in the fourth and final set by a score of 31-29.
“It was too bad we couldn’t close out the fourth with a few set points,” Ragogna added.
Last year, the Badgers finished last in the OUA West and missed the playoffs. Ragogna was installed as the new head coach and the program posted its highest win total (seven) since the program was reinstated in 2016.
SUPPORT US
On the right side of our web site, as well as on the top of the stories, you will notice a yellow SUPPORT US button.
We are asking anyone who finds value in our work and is able to financially help us to click on the button and contribute whatever amount you feel is appropriate and can afford. There is no set amount. Any amount is appreciated.
The funds collected will be used to enhance and offset the expenses of running the web site.
