Posted: Nov 24, 2016
Voyageurs Weekend Preview: November 25-27
This weekend is packed full of action at the Ben Avery Gym as men’s and women’s basketball welcomes in the Gee-Gees and Ravens from the nation's capital, and men's and women's swimming hosts the deBrary Divisional Championships at the Jeno Tihanyi Olympic Gold Pool.
Beginning at 6:00pm on Friday, the women's basketball team will do battle with the Gee Gees, who are 1-0 on the season. The Voyageurs, who are winless thus far, will be relying heavily on Meghan Forestell who leads the team in scoring through four games with 12.3 points per game. The Gee Gees finished with a record of 17-2 last season, good enough for first place in the OUA, and are always strong which will surely make for some fast-paced basketball action Friday night.
Immediately following the women’s game, the men are in for an equally tough challenge as they host last year’s top seeded team in the OUA and currently the #4 team in the country, the Ottawa Gee-Gees. The 2-2 Voyageurs are led by Kadre Gray who is averaging an impressive 28.3 points per game. The Vees will look to increase their win total on Friday night when they battle Ottawa at 8:00pm.
On Saturday night, the women’s team will host the other Ottawa area team, the Carleton Ravens. The Ravens, who are also winless thus far, will surely be desperate when they hit the court Saturday evening. Despite the Ravens being winless, they are currently ranked #4 in the country and were a strong team last year finishing with a record of 14-5.
The men will then also host the Ravens who are 1-0 thus far and sit atop the standings in the CIS. The Ravens are led by Kaza Kajami-Keane who dropped 24 points in their only game this season. The Voyageurs will need a strong team defence, led by their team leader in rebounds per game, Nelson Yengue, in order to keep the Ravens at bay.
Both games for both teams this weekend will give the Voyageurs an opportunity to prove themselves against some of the top basketball programs in the CIS.
Saturday night also marks the beginning of the deBray Divisional Championships for men's and women's swimming at the Jeno Tihanyi Olympic Gold Pool. The two-day event hosts six OUA schools, including York, Waterloo, Queen's, Brock, Laurier and Carleton. The Voyageurs women's squad will look to make it a three-peat as they try to defend their championship title, while the men will try to best their second place finish from a year ago.
Leading the way for the Voyageurs, on the women's side will be the duo of Alex and Julie Langlois, veteran Léa Paulus, third-year Riley Konrad and Madeline Stever and a swarm of first-year Voyageurs, including Francesca Zammit-Maempel and Emma Fender.
On the men's side, the Voyageurs will be led by third-year Matthew Schouten who will look to book a ticket to his third consecutive CIS championships with a qualifying time and repeat of last year's gold medal performance in the 50m freestyle. Along with Schouten, veteran David Ahong and first-year Voyageurs Christopher Eastick and Samuel Boily-Dufour will look to put the squad on top of the podium this year. Swimming action begins at 5:30pm Saturday evening and again at 10:30am on Sunday morning.