Rivalry week summed up the final week of the first semester with both of our volleyball teams and our men's basketball team taking on the La Cité Coyotes to close out 2024. Here's how it went.
Women's Volleyball (8-3)
On Wednesday November 27th our women's volleyball team made the short trip across town to La Cité to take on the Coyotes (7-4). These two teams met back on November 6th in a barn burner at the ARC with the Wolves coming away with a 5 set win. The Coyotes had different plans this time around as they came away with a 3-0 win dropping our league record to 8-3.
Despite the loss, the Wolves have put together a solid first semester earning the 3rd spot of the OCAA East standings with 7 games to come in the 2nd semester. They will be back in action on Friday January 10th at 6:00 pm when the Canadore Panthers (5-6) come to town.
Men's Volleyball (5-6)
Our men's volleyball team closed out the semester with a short trip to Ottawa's east end to take on the La Cité Coyotes (0-11). After a tough start to the season, the Wolves earned their first win against the Coyotes back on November 6th. The team has been on a roll ever since winning 4 of their last 5 going into this one. Algonquin kept it rolling, winning in straight sets 25-23, 25-16 and 25-21. Ryan Lincoln led the way offensively with 9 kills and 2 aces. Julian Tran had 7 kills and 5 digs. Ethan Fisher also had a strong game with 6 kills and 2 blocks.
The Wolves will look to carry the momentum of the second half of the semester into the unofficial second half of the season. With 7 games remaining Algonquin has moved up to the 6th spot in the OCAA East standings with a 5-6 record. They will be back in action at the ARC on January 10th at 8:00 pm when they take on the Canadore Panthers (7-4).
Men's Basketball (7-3)
After a tough loss to the Seneca Sting last weekend our men's basketball team was hoping to finish the semester strong on Friday November 29th against the La Cité Coyotes (2-8). These two teams met back in October to open up the OCAA season. Algonquin came away with an 88-75 win in that one and were hoping for more of the same. There were more than just standings implications on the line in this one. 5th year guard Simon Desta was just 7 points away from becoming the Algonquin Men's Basketball all-time leading scorer.
The Wolves rode the hot hand of OCAA leading scorer Tesloch Luk early on. Tesloch scored a game high 26 points with 14 of them coming in the opening frame. Algonquin held a 23-18 lead after the first quarter. Desta had 3 points in the first quarter, meaning the magic number was down to 4. Halfway through the 2nd quarter Desta knocked down his 3rd triple of the game from the top of the ARC to move into the top spot, passing Gary Gallagher who previously held the record with 1149 points.
The Wolves controlled the pace for the remainder of the game and finished off the semester with a 97-74 win. As previously mentioned, Tesloch Luk led the way with 26 points and 11 boards. Simon Desta finished with 12 points and now has 1155 points and counting on his career. Jansen Balmaceda was also in double figures with 11.
The team will be back in action on Saturday January 11th when the Centennial Colts come to the ARC.
This was the final weekly recap of the 2024 season. The Algonquin SA Athletics Department would like to take the time to wish everyone Happy Holidays. Looking forward to seeing you back in the stands in 2025!