Hey guys!
Sorry it's been so long between posts here I've really fallen behind!
So where I last left off we were heading into a weekend of exhibition play against Winnipeg! We won both games against Winnipeg 3 sets to 1. These games were a great test for us because Winnipeg played great defence, kept balls alive and made us have to work the whole game long to get through rough plays and make runs to stay in the game. We experimented with some different lineups as well, with Eivind our starting right side moving to libero to finish both games, and myself (Logan) moving from middle to right side. Brett LeDrew came in to play middle, replacing me. This really showed off how deep of a team we have this year, and our ability to perform with guys coming off the bench and moving into different positions! Right side was interesting for me, staying on court all set long without subbing out back row to the libero was very different, and hitting out of the back row is still something I'm working on. Overall this weekend really helped test us and show us what we are capable of as a group!
Next up we had a bus ride to Queen's University for their annual exhibition tournament. Approximately 12 hours on a bus with a full volleyball team can be a little uncomfortable, but it's great for team bonding! You have to find ways to pass the time and sometimes you might end up talking to a guy for half the trip who you don't really know that well.
On to the games! We had our first game Friday night against the hosts Queen's, and swept them 3 sets to none. It was a good game for us, we played consistently throughout, and made some good adjustments early on to counter a great Queen's team.
Next up we played Montreal on Saturday. We were excited about this game since Montreal is a regular opponent for us during our interlock tournaments with the Quebec conference. We won the game 3-1. It was another good test, and a bit of wake up call for us. Montreal came out playing strong, and showing off their usual defensive intensity that can be frustrating. Again we had to make some adjustments, particularly on blocking for middles, making sure we're penetrating on block early and really taking away angles. After some runs, including Julio serving a series of aces, we got back in control to take the game.
Our final game was against Manitoba for the tournament title. This match turned into a brawl, with us losing in 5 sets. It was a disappointing end to the exhibition season, suffering our first loss in a game we feel we jsut did not perform. There was some lack of communication, and guys getting out of rythm, not focusing as Manitoba made runs and comebacks. This was a real wake up call to us, that we need to bring our best every time if we expect to make it to the very end of the season, and make waves at Nationals.
League play then started off in DAL with our first Interlock of the year. A loss to Montreal in 5 sets to start off was not what the team wanted. We had to have a serious talk after this game and reaffirm that we need to work together, support each other when we are playing well and playing bad, and when the other team is making great plays, we need to make great plays to stay in it.
We went on to win the next 2 games of the interlock, including beating Laval for the first time in my 5 year vreds career.
I don't want to make this post too long so I'll save some more for another post later this week! I'll also start introducing you guys to some of the new faces on the team!
thanks for all your support!
Logan
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
First of the year!
Hello Readers!
Welcome back and just welcome to any new readers we get, sorry I've been a little late with our first post this year, we've been busy!
Quick intro my name is Logan Keoughan and I am a fifth year middle/right side player, I am a BSc Environment and Natural Resources student, and I enjoy walks in the woods and sitting down to a lovely meal.
This year we started off with early exhibition play against York University, who finished top 4 in the OUA last year. First game was on a night, with an awesome crowd out to support us we swept York 3-0. We were really happy with this result, but still felt we had some areas of game to improve for the next match, particularly to maintain good passing, and better blocking against the York middles. We had a day off Saturday while York travelled to Halifax to play DAL, then resumed out matchup on Sunday afternoon. We stared off well with a first set win, then a close second set we lost 32-30. We came back to take the next to sets and the match. We felt like we adjusted and made steps on the things we outlined from game one, but lost some of our consistency. Overall it was a good weekend for us, and not just for wins, but for a test early in the year, and the learning that came out of it.
Now we're hard at work in practice and in the gym, getting ready for a next test against Winnipeg October 11th and 12th. The focus in practice is on intensity, testing ourselves and each other to try to give 100% on every play, to get into a game mindset against each other. You might wonder why I didn't give the cliche 110% effort, and I'll tell you why. I recently read an article that struck a chord with me, it essentially said that people who wanna give 110% don't understand what 100% is. 100% is literally all you have, every part of you totally committed. That's hard, and nearly impossible to do all the time. But you gotta push it, you have to reach for putting it all the line, all the time.
So after that little bit of intensity, come on out and support us October 11th & 12th against Winnipeg!
Talk to you soon!
Logan Keoughan
Welcome back and just welcome to any new readers we get, sorry I've been a little late with our first post this year, we've been busy!
Quick intro my name is Logan Keoughan and I am a fifth year middle/right side player, I am a BSc Environment and Natural Resources student, and I enjoy walks in the woods and sitting down to a lovely meal.
This year we started off with early exhibition play against York University, who finished top 4 in the OUA last year. First game was on a night, with an awesome crowd out to support us we swept York 3-0. We were really happy with this result, but still felt we had some areas of game to improve for the next match, particularly to maintain good passing, and better blocking against the York middles. We had a day off Saturday while York travelled to Halifax to play DAL, then resumed out matchup on Sunday afternoon. We stared off well with a first set win, then a close second set we lost 32-30. We came back to take the next to sets and the match. We felt like we adjusted and made steps on the things we outlined from game one, but lost some of our consistency. Overall it was a good weekend for us, and not just for wins, but for a test early in the year, and the learning that came out of it.
Now we're hard at work in practice and in the gym, getting ready for a next test against Winnipeg October 11th and 12th. The focus in practice is on intensity, testing ourselves and each other to try to give 100% on every play, to get into a game mindset against each other. You might wonder why I didn't give the cliche 110% effort, and I'll tell you why. I recently read an article that struck a chord with me, it essentially said that people who wanna give 110% don't understand what 100% is. 100% is literally all you have, every part of you totally committed. That's hard, and nearly impossible to do all the time. But you gotta push it, you have to reach for putting it all the line, all the time.
So after that little bit of intensity, come on out and support us October 11th & 12th against Winnipeg!
Talk to you soon!
Logan Keoughan
Thursday, March 14, 2013
5 years, 1 blog post
Hey everyone!
I hope everyone had an awesome spring break and are back to
the grind for a final push. I’ll start off by filling you guys in about CIS’s.
I’ll do a special shout out to Julio because he was recognized as a 1st
team all Canadian at the CIS banquet, huge honor! As Friday approached, our
team watched game tape and mentally prepped like usual, finally the time
arrived for our ¼ final match up against McMaster University. The first set saw
two teams slugging it out back n fourth, point for point until finally McMaster
was able to capitalize and took a 25-23 set win. Unfortunately, our team could
not keep up with them as the match continued; our passing broke down in the 2nd
and 3rd set and didn’t allow for much isolation to our wings or
middles. McMaster took the 2nd and 3rd set with scores of
17 and 15.
The 2nd day, we faced up against the previous two
time national champions, Trinity Western Spartans, who were upset in their ¼ final
play on day 1 by Western. I think our team re grouped very well from the
previous day and even surprised TWU abit. As the match went on, both teams
realized nobody was interested in giving up the loss that easily. After 2.5hrs
of play, and a 5th set heart breaker, TWU came out on top. Set
scores were 25-19, 23-25, 25-20, 20-25, 12-15. As much as I hate losing,
especially to finish my career as a varsity red, I guess I could bite my tongue
abit and swallow this. Our team showed that definitely did deserve to be at the
CIS’s and that we can compete and play with any of the top programs in the
country. With having 8 rookies on our roster this season, and 3 of them being
on the floor for the majority of the championship, it only speaks leaps and
bounds about the direction of the program and the high potential it has to grow
further in years to come.
At the end of the tournament, hosts Laval finished on top
and I can’t say anything but congratulations and good wishes towards the team
members and coaching staff. Julio was once again honored by receiving the R.W.
Pugh Fair Play Award for the tournament.
As we packed up the bus to leave and drive home…I sat in my
seat realizing that would be my final roadtrip as a varsity red…weird thought
to cross through your mind after 5 years of long bus rides in the early
mornings, and even longer bus rides through the late night. I look back on my 5
years and it feels like yesterday I was just arriving at UNB and showing up to
my first try outs in the LB gym. Scared to make any single mistake thinking it
would be the end of my career, but anxious and ready all the same to embark on
a new journey. The reality is over my career, I made mistakes…several haha… but
truly believe I learned from all of them and they shaped me into the 5th
year graduating athlete I am today.
To my head coach Dan McMorran, along with several other
coaching staff members over the years, and the entire varsity reds office, I cannot
begin to describe the thanks and appreciation I have towards all of you! You’ve put countless hours into my university
career and helped it be as memorable as possible. I also want to thank all of
my different teammates over the years; I’ve played with 40 different
individuals over 5 years and have made special bonds and memories with all of
you that I will treasure for the rest of my life. I also want to thank my mum n
dad…who as most of you know, were without a doubt my biggest fans from day one,
travelling all over Canada to cheer me and my team on throughout my 5 year
career! I’d like to think I’ve grown as
a volleyball player while attending UNB, and improved my skills along the way,
but even more so, I’ve grown so much as a person and all of you helped me along
the way. I am proud to say I am now a varsity reds alumni!
My advice to any
varsity athlete who reads this is pretty simple…take it ALL in. Whether you’re
an incoming recruit, or a 4th year athlete going into your final
year, make the most of your time at UNB. As busy and stressed as you may feel
at times, in 30 years, chances are you won’t be thinking about how stressed you
were. Go out and support your fellow varsity reds when they have home matches,
be obnoxious and loud fans… Get involved with as many community involved
varsity reds programs as possible, believe it or not, it’s actually fun, it
doesn’t just look good on a resume…strive to be that academic all-Canadian in
the classroom, it’s what you’re at university for anyways, and if not an all-Canadian,
then push to improve your marks each semester…and finally, and most important,
enjoy your teammates and coaches, you’re with them daily and they legit are
your second family! When you have a poor practice or game, or a frustrating
experience with a teammate or coach, don’t dwell on it…embrace it, learn from
it, and move forward…because your end goals are all the same; trying to become
CIS champions.
Thanks for reading my blog over the past few seasons
everyone!
Cheers,Costa
Fellas, I love yas!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
AUS Champions
Hey Everyone,
so this past weekend was our best 2-3 series with he Dal Tigers for the AUS Championships, and fortunately for us, we made it a clean sweep! We defeated the tigers on home court Friday evening with a score of 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-23), player of the match was league MVP, Julio Fernandez who tallied up 13 kills, 8 digs and 2 blocks in the 4 set match. The 2nd match took place Sunday evening at the Richard J Currie Center....the crowd was electric to say the least! Once again however, we were unable to capitalize in the first set (whether it was nerves etc), and lost a close one 25-23, but after that, it was all smooth sailing. We took the next 3 sets with scores of 25-17, 25-19, 25-7...and the AUS Banner!! Player of the match was AUS rookie of the year, Eivind Andersen who racked up 10 kills, 9 digs and 3 blocks for the varsity reds.
Winning on home court was definitely a surreal experience, especially for myself and other graduating teammate Matt Sweet. It was an awesome way to finish off our career at UNB! On behalf of the team, we just want to say a huge thanks to all the fans that came out for our match and battled through the snowstorm to do so, we all really appreciate it...without a doubt the 7th man!
Our next step is now looking ahead at CIS nationals in Quebec City in two weeks! University of Laval hosts this years championship and so far, 3 teams have booked their tickets, ourselves, University of Laval and University of Montreal. The OUA and CanWest playoffs are this weekend and the final 5 deciding teams will be known by sunday evening. We are unsure what seed we will get going into nationals, but it doesn't matter,we are practicing and training harder and better than ever and we will be ready for whoever we face in the first round.
As we get closer to the nationals, I will fill you all in on our seeding, as well as give you the webcast link to the matches. Thanks again for all the love and support at home over the season, UNB hands down has the best fans out there! Cheers,
Costa
so this past weekend was our best 2-3 series with he Dal Tigers for the AUS Championships, and fortunately for us, we made it a clean sweep! We defeated the tigers on home court Friday evening with a score of 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-23), player of the match was league MVP, Julio Fernandez who tallied up 13 kills, 8 digs and 2 blocks in the 4 set match. The 2nd match took place Sunday evening at the Richard J Currie Center....the crowd was electric to say the least! Once again however, we were unable to capitalize in the first set (whether it was nerves etc), and lost a close one 25-23, but after that, it was all smooth sailing. We took the next 3 sets with scores of 25-17, 25-19, 25-7...and the AUS Banner!! Player of the match was AUS rookie of the year, Eivind Andersen who racked up 10 kills, 9 digs and 3 blocks for the varsity reds.
Winning on home court was definitely a surreal experience, especially for myself and other graduating teammate Matt Sweet. It was an awesome way to finish off our career at UNB! On behalf of the team, we just want to say a huge thanks to all the fans that came out for our match and battled through the snowstorm to do so, we all really appreciate it...without a doubt the 7th man!
Our next step is now looking ahead at CIS nationals in Quebec City in two weeks! University of Laval hosts this years championship and so far, 3 teams have booked their tickets, ourselves, University of Laval and University of Montreal. The OUA and CanWest playoffs are this weekend and the final 5 deciding teams will be known by sunday evening. We are unsure what seed we will get going into nationals, but it doesn't matter,we are practicing and training harder and better than ever and we will be ready for whoever we face in the first round.
As we get closer to the nationals, I will fill you all in on our seeding, as well as give you the webcast link to the matches. Thanks again for all the love and support at home over the season, UNB hands down has the best fans out there! Cheers,
Costa
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Heading into playoffs!
Hey Everyone,
this is going to be short and sweet. The weekend has finally arrived, the weekend that all the practices, off court training, roadtrips through the night, video sessions have lead up too...playoffs! We had to Halifax tomorrow morning to face off against Dal in the first of our best 2/3 series. The match is webcasted too, its on at 7pm and you can watch the game through this link: http://athletics.dal.ca/dalhousie_tigers/events/men-s-sports/volleyball.html then click on the TV link by the date/match time. The second match of the series takes place at UNB this Sunday at 7pm, we want to pack the currie center so grab your friends and come show some love! Our team made this video yesterday before our practice...hope you enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH-aSWnHG38
Cheers,
Costa
this is going to be short and sweet. The weekend has finally arrived, the weekend that all the practices, off court training, roadtrips through the night, video sessions have lead up too...playoffs! We had to Halifax tomorrow morning to face off against Dal in the first of our best 2/3 series. The match is webcasted too, its on at 7pm and you can watch the game through this link: http://athletics.dal.ca/dalhousie_tigers/events/men-s-sports/volleyball.html then click on the TV link by the date/match time. The second match of the series takes place at UNB this Sunday at 7pm, we want to pack the currie center so grab your friends and come show some love! Our team made this video yesterday before our practice...hope you enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH-aSWnHG38
Cheers,
Costa
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Trip to the Rock
Hey everyone,
hope you all had an awesome weekend! This past weekend our team travelled to NL to take on memorial university for our 2 final matches of the regular season. This trip can always be full of surprises. We left Fredericton and travelled to halifax on Thurday, with the plane to catch our 4pm flight. However, due to bad weather in Halifax, our flight was delayed until 630pm, and then it was delayed until 830pm, and than 945pm, and then finally it was cancelled. So we stayed in a hotel for the night and the following day we finally lifted off the ground and headed to NL. We played at 8pm and landed in St. John's around 330, so still lots of time to rest before our match.
Our first match was a convincing 3-0 win, with scores of 25-16, 25-20, 25-14. We executed very well and were able to get into a rythem with our block n defence. Player of the match for the first game was the venezuelan assassin himself, Julio Fernandez who racked up 16 kills, 1 kill and 1 block in the 3 set match.
The following day was not the same story. MUN came out with a better mindset, and arguable we had a poorer one. MUN played without a doubt, their best ball of the season, getting touches on almost all balls that were crossing over the net and we caused serveral unforced errors which lead to the result that happened. They caught us off guard and forced us to 5 sets before we were able to seal the deal. The set scores were 25-20, 19-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-12. POG recgonition for this match goes out to #11, Logan Keoughan, who tallied 12 kills, 1 dig and 5 blocks for the match. I'd like to do a quick shout out to Drew Stephens and Brad Pitcher, the 2 graduating 5th years on MUN...solid career fellas and I only wish the best for both of you in the future!
The weekend of course, finished off the same way it begin, with delayed flights, and an extended travel time home. We landed into halifax around 1130pm last night, and drove straight home, arriving into freddy around 430am. The travel escapades that varsity athletes have to deal with is not always as sweet as the normal students may think haha!
We now have 2 weeks of hard, intense, focused training before play offs begin against the dalhousie tigers. The best 2/3 series will start the weekend of Feb 15-17, and conclude the weekend of Feb 23rd, if a 3rd match is required. As I find out the specific dates and times of the matches, I'll keep you all posted.
This week I'm going to introduce you to a fan favourite local guy, Matt Losier. Matt (Marty) is a 6'2 first year setter who is studying business at UNB. He has had an awesome rookie season thus far and I'm sure the rest of his season, along with his career at UNB will be very memorable. Here are some fun facts about the kid;
Q: Why did you choose UNB?
A: I chose UNB because I liked the atmosphere and the boys on the team. Dan was also a big factor in my decision as well. I also wanted to play at home in front of my family
Q: What has been your favourite experience as a varsity red thus far?
A: My favourite experience so far was the first time we beat DAL. Every team I have been on, those NS boys where always our rivals so it was nice beating them.
Q: Who do you think will win the Super Bowl today, and why?
A: I want the Ravens to win! I really enjoy watching Ray Lewis and I would like to see him win his last game in the NFL.
Have an awesome week everyone,
Cheers,
Costa
hope you all had an awesome weekend! This past weekend our team travelled to NL to take on memorial university for our 2 final matches of the regular season. This trip can always be full of surprises. We left Fredericton and travelled to halifax on Thurday, with the plane to catch our 4pm flight. However, due to bad weather in Halifax, our flight was delayed until 630pm, and then it was delayed until 830pm, and than 945pm, and then finally it was cancelled. So we stayed in a hotel for the night and the following day we finally lifted off the ground and headed to NL. We played at 8pm and landed in St. John's around 330, so still lots of time to rest before our match.
Our first match was a convincing 3-0 win, with scores of 25-16, 25-20, 25-14. We executed very well and were able to get into a rythem with our block n defence. Player of the match for the first game was the venezuelan assassin himself, Julio Fernandez who racked up 16 kills, 1 kill and 1 block in the 3 set match.
The following day was not the same story. MUN came out with a better mindset, and arguable we had a poorer one. MUN played without a doubt, their best ball of the season, getting touches on almost all balls that were crossing over the net and we caused serveral unforced errors which lead to the result that happened. They caught us off guard and forced us to 5 sets before we were able to seal the deal. The set scores were 25-20, 19-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-12. POG recgonition for this match goes out to #11, Logan Keoughan, who tallied 12 kills, 1 dig and 5 blocks for the match. I'd like to do a quick shout out to Drew Stephens and Brad Pitcher, the 2 graduating 5th years on MUN...solid career fellas and I only wish the best for both of you in the future!
The weekend of course, finished off the same way it begin, with delayed flights, and an extended travel time home. We landed into halifax around 1130pm last night, and drove straight home, arriving into freddy around 430am. The travel escapades that varsity athletes have to deal with is not always as sweet as the normal students may think haha!
We now have 2 weeks of hard, intense, focused training before play offs begin against the dalhousie tigers. The best 2/3 series will start the weekend of Feb 15-17, and conclude the weekend of Feb 23rd, if a 3rd match is required. As I find out the specific dates and times of the matches, I'll keep you all posted.
This week I'm going to introduce you to a fan favourite local guy, Matt Losier. Matt (Marty) is a 6'2 first year setter who is studying business at UNB. He has had an awesome rookie season thus far and I'm sure the rest of his season, along with his career at UNB will be very memorable. Here are some fun facts about the kid;
Q: Why did you choose UNB?
A: I chose UNB because I liked the atmosphere and the boys on the team. Dan was also a big factor in my decision as well. I also wanted to play at home in front of my family
Q: What has been your favourite experience as a varsity red thus far?
A: My favourite experience so far was the first time we beat DAL. Every team I have been on, those NS boys where always our rivals so it was nice beating them.
Q: Who do you think will win the Super Bowl today, and why?
A: I want the Ravens to win! I really enjoy watching Ray Lewis and I would like to see him win his last game in the NFL.
Have an awesome week everyone,
Cheers,
Costa
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Weekend against the Tigers
Hey Everybody,
hope you're all doing well! This past weekend we hosted the Dalhousie Tigers and for starters, on behalf of the team we wanna say a huge thanks to all the fans who came out and supported us for the two match series! It was an awesome environment to play in, hopefully you can match it or better for playoffs in a few weeks!
Our first match on Friday evening was a 5 set barn burner for the fans to watch.Unfortunately, we didn't play very steady ball and created way too many errors in each set to allow dal to stay in the match. This errors led to Dal prevailing in the 5th set. The scores for the match were 25-22, 23-25, 34-32, 24-26, 15-11. POG honors went to our Middle, Logan Keoughan for having a stellar match with 7 kills, 2 digs and 16 blocks! On Saturday, we played a different style of ball, minimizing our errors and capitalizing on Dal's. This lead to a 3-0 sweep with scores of 25-17, 25-17 and 29-27. Wallking away with the POG honors this match was our other Middle, Craig Toonders who chalked up 10 kills, 4 blocks and 1 service ace. One of those blocks being a massive one to close out the match!
We had monday off to rest and then were back at it yesterday and today. We fly out to Newfoundland tomorrow and face off against MUN Friday and Saturday for our final two regular season matches. The games are webcasted I believe, but you have to find the link through MUN's athletics website. After this weekend, we have a weekend off as MUN travels to Dal for the final AUS regular season matches. Following that weekend, the best 2/3 play-off series will start between Dal and us. I'll give you more information about match times and locations as I know them!
This week I'm going to introduce you to a first year player from PEI. Alec Parise is a 6'6 outside hitter and is currently studying Geomatic Engineering. Here is some facts about the first year islander:
Q: Why did you choose to play volleyball at UNB?
A: I choose to play at UNB because I heard great things about the program and Dan (McMorran) seemed to be a good guy and someone I wanted to play for.
Q: What is your favorite thing about PEI?
A: The best part about PEI is how every community is so tight knit, allows you to really get to know people you meet that much better.
Q Who is your favorite pro athlete and why?
A: Michael Jordan...Do I even need a reason why?
As I mentioned above, I'll keep you all posted about the playoff schedule and match times, take it easy!
Costa
hope you're all doing well! This past weekend we hosted the Dalhousie Tigers and for starters, on behalf of the team we wanna say a huge thanks to all the fans who came out and supported us for the two match series! It was an awesome environment to play in, hopefully you can match it or better for playoffs in a few weeks!
Our first match on Friday evening was a 5 set barn burner for the fans to watch.Unfortunately, we didn't play very steady ball and created way too many errors in each set to allow dal to stay in the match. This errors led to Dal prevailing in the 5th set. The scores for the match were 25-22, 23-25, 34-32, 24-26, 15-11. POG honors went to our Middle, Logan Keoughan for having a stellar match with 7 kills, 2 digs and 16 blocks! On Saturday, we played a different style of ball, minimizing our errors and capitalizing on Dal's. This lead to a 3-0 sweep with scores of 25-17, 25-17 and 29-27. Wallking away with the POG honors this match was our other Middle, Craig Toonders who chalked up 10 kills, 4 blocks and 1 service ace. One of those blocks being a massive one to close out the match!
We had monday off to rest and then were back at it yesterday and today. We fly out to Newfoundland tomorrow and face off against MUN Friday and Saturday for our final two regular season matches. The games are webcasted I believe, but you have to find the link through MUN's athletics website. After this weekend, we have a weekend off as MUN travels to Dal for the final AUS regular season matches. Following that weekend, the best 2/3 play-off series will start between Dal and us. I'll give you more information about match times and locations as I know them!
This week I'm going to introduce you to a first year player from PEI. Alec Parise is a 6'6 outside hitter and is currently studying Geomatic Engineering. Here is some facts about the first year islander:
Q: Why did you choose to play volleyball at UNB?
A: I choose to play at UNB because I heard great things about the program and Dan (McMorran) seemed to be a good guy and someone I wanted to play for.
Q: What is your favorite thing about PEI?
A: The best part about PEI is how every community is so tight knit, allows you to really get to know people you meet that much better.
Q Who is your favorite pro athlete and why?
A: Michael Jordan...Do I even need a reason why?
As I mentioned above, I'll keep you all posted about the playoff schedule and match times, take it easy!
Costa
Monday, January 21, 2013
3rd Interlock Recap
Hey Everyone,
I hope you're all doing great! This past weekend our team traveled to Halifax to compete in our 3rd and final interlock with the Quebec league. We finished with 2 wins and 1 loss. Our first match was against CIS #3 ranked Laval. We had a very good battle the first set, losing 27-25, following those two sets with scores of 25-20 and 25-17. It was a tough fought match, but we met afterwords as a team and discussed some of the positives we could take away from it. Realizing that we still had two huge matches left to play the following day, we cleared our minds of the lose and prepared for Sherbrooke the following morning. This match was a bit better than Friday evenings match, it showed both teams slugging it out back n fourth, until finally we finished on top with a 15-13 win in the 5th set. The first 4 set scores were as followed (UNB-Sher); 24-26, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22. Logan Keoughan recieved player of the match. The final match for the weekend was against Montreal. Our goal for this match was to play more steady, minimize our up and down style of play that took place during the Sherbrooke match earlier in the day. Unfortunately for Montreal, that is exactly what our team did...we played our best match of the weekend. From consistent good passing, to quality setting, to strong block and dig defense, and even a very vocal bench, it was a great team victory. We ended up winning the match 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-18). Walking away with player of the match honors was 3rd year middle, Craig Toonders.
This week I'm going to introduce you to Craig. Craig is a 3rd year 6'6ft middle transfer from Ottawa. He's studying electrical engineering at UNB. Here's a few fun facts about the big guy;
Q) Why did you choose UNB?
A) I choose UNB because I heard through Ryley Bolden that the volleyball program was very good and I also heard the engineering program was very well respected.
Q) What has been your most favorite experience since you've come to UNB?
A) Having the opportunity to meet all the people I have, on the court and off the court.
This up coming weekend we host the Dalhousie Tigers! On Friday at 8pm and Saturday at 1pm, if we're able to walk away with two wins, then we'll move into first place in the league and also put ourselves in a good position to possible host the best 2/3 playoff series in February. If you don't have plans yet, these matches should be booked in as they promise to be a couple of very exciting matches! Look forward to seeing you all out there, hope you all have an awesome week! Cheers,
Costa
I hope you're all doing great! This past weekend our team traveled to Halifax to compete in our 3rd and final interlock with the Quebec league. We finished with 2 wins and 1 loss. Our first match was against CIS #3 ranked Laval. We had a very good battle the first set, losing 27-25, following those two sets with scores of 25-20 and 25-17. It was a tough fought match, but we met afterwords as a team and discussed some of the positives we could take away from it. Realizing that we still had two huge matches left to play the following day, we cleared our minds of the lose and prepared for Sherbrooke the following morning. This match was a bit better than Friday evenings match, it showed both teams slugging it out back n fourth, until finally we finished on top with a 15-13 win in the 5th set. The first 4 set scores were as followed (UNB-Sher); 24-26, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22. Logan Keoughan recieved player of the match. The final match for the weekend was against Montreal. Our goal for this match was to play more steady, minimize our up and down style of play that took place during the Sherbrooke match earlier in the day. Unfortunately for Montreal, that is exactly what our team did...we played our best match of the weekend. From consistent good passing, to quality setting, to strong block and dig defense, and even a very vocal bench, it was a great team victory. We ended up winning the match 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-18). Walking away with player of the match honors was 3rd year middle, Craig Toonders.
This week I'm going to introduce you to Craig. Craig is a 3rd year 6'6ft middle transfer from Ottawa. He's studying electrical engineering at UNB. Here's a few fun facts about the big guy;
Q) Why did you choose UNB?
A) I choose UNB because I heard through Ryley Bolden that the volleyball program was very good and I also heard the engineering program was very well respected.
Q) What has been your most favorite experience since you've come to UNB?
A) Having the opportunity to meet all the people I have, on the court and off the court.
This up coming weekend we host the Dalhousie Tigers! On Friday at 8pm and Saturday at 1pm, if we're able to walk away with two wins, then we'll move into first place in the league and also put ourselves in a good position to possible host the best 2/3 playoff series in February. If you don't have plans yet, these matches should be booked in as they promise to be a couple of very exciting matches! Look forward to seeing you all out there, hope you all have an awesome week! Cheers,
Costa
Monday, January 7, 2013
Kick-off to 2nd semester!
Hey everyone!
I hope you all had a very merry christmas and a happy new year! Although my time at home was short n sweet afer I finished exams, I had a great time with family and friends, couldn't ask for much better! Our entire team arrived back in freddy (after several delayed flights) on December 29th to start practicing. We practiced for 2 days and then headed down south to St. Pete's Florida to compete in the Alden Cup. The tournament featured ourselves, hosts McMaster, Laval, Calgary, Geulph and Manitoba! Every team played 4 matches (your team wouldn't play the team in your same league conference). Then the champion was selected off matches won, then sets won, then points.
Before I jump into talking about the tournament play, I wanted to talk a bit some of the other team activities we did. On new years day we went to Busch Gardens amusement park, such an unreal day! Some of the biggest roller coasters in the world are at this amusement park so definitely zero dull moments. Our team also hit up the beach pretty much every single day since our resort was RIGHT on the water, and for the most part, the weather was amazing, 23-27 degrees!
Our first match, we faced up against CIS #2 ranked McMaster, who had gone undefeated in the first half of their season. We started off very strong, with solid passing, setting, attacking and defence, we were able to clinch the first 2 sets. As the much progressed, we unfortunately lost 3-2, but needless to say, a fairly good start to the tournament. The next match we faced off against Manitoba and lost 3-0, but with decent set scores, we then played Guelph who defeated us in 4 sets. With our last match left, we faced Calgary which turned out to be a great finish to the entire trip. After dropping the first 2 sets, we were able to rally together and come back and win in 5 sets. The tournament was a great way for our team to start off the second semester and re-assured the depth of our bench in all positions as we had to deal with several different injuries throughout the tournament.
I just wanted to do a big shout out and thanks to all the local parents who drove us from Fredericton-Bangor and vice versa, it really was greatly appreciated by everyone! We arrived back in Fredericton late last night, going from +25 to -20ish with windchill isn't the most ideal weather flip, but still an awesome trip regardless!
Our next time on the court is January 18-19th weekend in halifax when Dalhousie hosts our third interlock play with the Quebec conference. Following that weekend we host Dalhousie and then the weekend after that our team travels to newfoundland to face MUN...the 2nd half of season always is a blur. Be sure to come out and support us the weekend of the 25-26th!
As always, I'm going to introduce you to one of my teammates and fill you in on a bit of info about them. This blog is all about the boy from the west coast, Tristen Burridge. Tristen is a 6'4 leftside hitter original from Fort St. John, BC. He is a talented all around player who will definitely have a very bright future with our program as he continues through his career. Here are a couple fun facts about the kid!
Q: Why did you choose to come to UNB?
A: I choose UNB because when I was recruited, the team seemed very welcoming and made me feel at home right away. Also, both my parents went to UNB along with several of my relatives.
Q What is your favorite moment as a varsity red so far?
A: My favorite moment so far would definitely be hearing Sam (Alves) scream while we were on the roller coasters at Busch Gardens, hilarious!
Q: What is your favorite thing to do back home in B.C.?
A: Chillin with friends and playing volleyball.
I hope everyones first week back to classes isn't too hard on the head and as I mentioned above, come out and show some love for the boys January 25-26th as we host the Dal Tigers at the Currie Center! Cheers,
Costa
I hope you all had a very merry christmas and a happy new year! Although my time at home was short n sweet afer I finished exams, I had a great time with family and friends, couldn't ask for much better! Our entire team arrived back in freddy (after several delayed flights) on December 29th to start practicing. We practiced for 2 days and then headed down south to St. Pete's Florida to compete in the Alden Cup. The tournament featured ourselves, hosts McMaster, Laval, Calgary, Geulph and Manitoba! Every team played 4 matches (your team wouldn't play the team in your same league conference). Then the champion was selected off matches won, then sets won, then points.
Before I jump into talking about the tournament play, I wanted to talk a bit some of the other team activities we did. On new years day we went to Busch Gardens amusement park, such an unreal day! Some of the biggest roller coasters in the world are at this amusement park so definitely zero dull moments. Our team also hit up the beach pretty much every single day since our resort was RIGHT on the water, and for the most part, the weather was amazing, 23-27 degrees!
Our first match, we faced up against CIS #2 ranked McMaster, who had gone undefeated in the first half of their season. We started off very strong, with solid passing, setting, attacking and defence, we were able to clinch the first 2 sets. As the much progressed, we unfortunately lost 3-2, but needless to say, a fairly good start to the tournament. The next match we faced off against Manitoba and lost 3-0, but with decent set scores, we then played Guelph who defeated us in 4 sets. With our last match left, we faced Calgary which turned out to be a great finish to the entire trip. After dropping the first 2 sets, we were able to rally together and come back and win in 5 sets. The tournament was a great way for our team to start off the second semester and re-assured the depth of our bench in all positions as we had to deal with several different injuries throughout the tournament.
I just wanted to do a big shout out and thanks to all the local parents who drove us from Fredericton-Bangor and vice versa, it really was greatly appreciated by everyone! We arrived back in Fredericton late last night, going from +25 to -20ish with windchill isn't the most ideal weather flip, but still an awesome trip regardless!
Our next time on the court is January 18-19th weekend in halifax when Dalhousie hosts our third interlock play with the Quebec conference. Following that weekend we host Dalhousie and then the weekend after that our team travels to newfoundland to face MUN...the 2nd half of season always is a blur. Be sure to come out and support us the weekend of the 25-26th!
As always, I'm going to introduce you to one of my teammates and fill you in on a bit of info about them. This blog is all about the boy from the west coast, Tristen Burridge. Tristen is a 6'4 leftside hitter original from Fort St. John, BC. He is a talented all around player who will definitely have a very bright future with our program as he continues through his career. Here are a couple fun facts about the kid!
Q: Why did you choose to come to UNB?
A: I choose UNB because when I was recruited, the team seemed very welcoming and made me feel at home right away. Also, both my parents went to UNB along with several of my relatives.
Q What is your favorite moment as a varsity red so far?
A: My favorite moment so far would definitely be hearing Sam (Alves) scream while we were on the roller coasters at Busch Gardens, hilarious!
Q: What is your favorite thing to do back home in B.C.?
A: Chillin with friends and playing volleyball.
I hope everyones first week back to classes isn't too hard on the head and as I mentioned above, come out and show some love for the boys January 25-26th as we host the Dal Tigers at the Currie Center! Cheers,
Costa
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