Jason Mendes (13) contributed 13 points off the bench in a comeback win over Fanshawe (Feb. 15)//Photo by Elia Koolsbergen

Mohawk’s men’s volleyball team will be travelling to Nipissing University in North Bay for this year’s Ontario Colleges’ Athletic Association (OCAA) Championships Feb. 23-25.

“We’re looking for revenge,” said Mohawk’s right-side Justin Scapinello about participating in his second provincial championships. “We lost in the semi-finals last year and we don’t want to go down that easy this year.”

The team earned their berth in the tournament after defeating La Cité Collégiale in straight sets (25-20, 25-21 and 25-19) in an OCAA crossover game on Saturday (Feb. 18).

Mohawk found an offensive rhythm that over powered La Cité and combined a well-executed game with a great defensive plan against one of the province’s leading scorers, Keith Marier.

Mohawk’s left-side, Ian Cameron, said the solid effort was really important for his team’s confidence heading into next week.

“I’d say we’ve been coming off a little bit of a lull – our starters,” he said. “So, we had a chance to really come out here and fight the adversity and we did that and we came out firing right from the beginning and obviously the result was successful.”

Saturday’s game was the first matchup for Mohawk and La Cité this season, leaving Mohawk’s head coach, Matthew Schnarr, only video to be able to scout their opponent. Schnarr said his game-plan was to stop Marier and have other players try and score. The Mountaineers held La Cité’s leading scorer to eight total points, well below his season average.

Schnarr added that the sweep of La Cité was the most consistent game his team has played in the past couple of months. After back-to-back losses to the OCAA’s West Division’s top ranked teams, Nipissing and Humber, Schnarr said his team looked tired and decided to give them a rest from practice before their game against Fanshawe (Feb. 15).

Fanshawe defeated the Mountaineers earlier in the season and were entering the Fennell Gymnasium needing a win to finish ahead of Sheridan and Redeemer in the West Division.

“We all know what they did to us at the beginning of the season,” said Mohawk’s middle Mike Douglas, who contributed 11 points coming off the bench against Fanshawe. “We all hold that little grudge and basically we knew that our fate was set but theirs wasn’t quite. So, we knew we had something to play for.”

The Fanshawe game was the last regular season game for the Mountaineers, and having no bearing on the standings for Mohawk; it allowed Schnarr to play a lot of players that hadn’t received much playing time throughout the season. After dropping the first two sets to Fanshawe, it was the bench players that showed they’ve earned their time on the floor pulling Mohawk all the way back to a five-set comeback win (22-25, 17-25, 27-25, 25-21 and 15-13).

“To be honest, our bench deserved playtime,” said Mohawk’s left-side Justin DesRoche. “We’ve been working really hard, beating our starters in practice, and gameplay all comes from practice.”

DesRoche said he stays ready on the bench by watching the plays to determine where the ball will be going so when his name is called he can react appropriately.

Jason Mendes is another player that stepped up in the comeback win over Fanshawe, scoring 13 points. Mendes is trying to prove to his coaches that he is ready to take that next step into a starting role. The first-year middle sees no reason why his team can’t return from North Bay without a gold medal.

“I think we can win it,” he said. “We definitely have the caliber to win it. We’re 14 guys – 16 guys deep and we all can play the game and we all can win.”

After the win over La Cité, Cameron gave credit to the bench players that won Mohawk their match versus Fanshawe saying it was the effort of those players that helped “drive their energy.”

Aminu Bello's 24 points per game ranks second in the OCAA//Photo by Elia Koolsbergen

There are currently 10 players shooting 50 per cent or better in the Ontario Colleges’ Athletic Association (OCAA) basketball standings and two of those players play guard for Mohawk.

Manny Campbell and Aminu Bello rank fourth (55.2) and tenth (50.5) respectively in the OCAA standings for field goal percentage.

“I’m feeling confident,” said Bello who ranks second in the OCAA in scoring with 24 points per game. “I mean, we’ve always been confident from the beginning of the season but now we’re gelling as a team—because we know it’s getting to the end stretch where we need to be playing better.”

Not that the Mountaineers need the confidence boost, but a big win over the Redeemer Royals should have the Mountaineers feeling good about their defence and high-powered transition offence.

“We added some pressure at the beginning,” said Bello who scored a game-high 37 points in only three quarters of playing time. “So, we were able to get on them early and get easy buckets.”

In their matchup in the Fennell Gymnasium on Feb. 18, Mohawk started with a full-court press defence that held the Royals to nine first quarter points. The stifling style of defence created turnovers that allowed the home team to gain a 36-9 first quarter lead.

Mohawk’s coach, Brian Jonker, was able to utilize his bench in the fourth quarter and give a lot of players that don’t see much playing time. The Mountaineers were able to relax on defence in the second half as Mohawk coasted to a 97-58 victory.

The Mountaineers have one regular season game remaining against Humber before they will host a playoff game to determine if they will advance to the OCAA Championship tournament. The game against Humber does not mean anything in regards to the standings. Jonker said the team will spend their upcoming practices preparing for next weeks (Feb.25) game against an Eastern Division team that is yet to be determined.

Kaitlynn Marquard battles to score in the paint against Redeemer, while her team battles to the end to make the OCAA Championships//Photo by Elia Koolsbergen

The women’s varsity basketball team is in a situation where they can guarantee themselves a chance in the Ontario Colleges’ Athletic Association playoffs.

“The good thing is, it’s in our control,” said coach Kevin Duffy. “If we win Wednesday night against Humber, we’re in the playoffs. It doesn’t matter what anybody else does.”

The do-or-die games started a little early for the Mountaineers and the women have responded winning three of their last four games.

Failing to make the playoffs last season, this year’s group is looking to change the culture of women’s basketball at Mohawk.

“We’ve definitely worked hard and worked our ass off all summer and worked our ass off all season and it’s great that we’re in the playoffs,” said Mohawk guard Sylvia Mosca.

If Mohawk were to fail to beat Humber, the Mountaineers will need some help to secure their playoff spot. Right now Lambton, Niagara and Mohawk are tied with eight wins each. In order to finish ahead of Lambton, Mohawk would need the Lions to lose their remaining three games and would need to beat Humber. Mohawk will still advance if tied with Niagara as the Mountaineers hold the tie breaker, having beat the Knights twice in the regular season. However, if the Mountaineers lose to Humber and the Knights win their last game versus Lambton, the Mountaineers will narrowly miss out on this year’s post-season.

After hitting their first four field goals to start their home game against Redeemer on Feb. 16, Mohawk went cold from the floor and allowed the Royals beck in to the game, giving Redeemer extra possessions off offensive rebounds and failing to convert on their free-throw opportunities.

“(Redeemer’s) bigger than us overall and boxing out is definitely a weak link,” said Mosca.

Mosca said the rebounding was addressed at halftime and Duffy added that it was a matter of completing rotations in order to be in the place on the floor. Redeemer’s 27 second-chance points accounted for almost half of their 58 total points.

Mohawk would clean up their errors and outscore the Royals by 33 in the middle two quarters en route to an 81-58 win.

Early in the second quarter, Mosca was fouled and awarded four free throws after Esther Weima was given a technical foul for arguing with the official. Mosca went on to make all four of her foul shots, making up for her team’s poor free throw percentage in the first quarter.

“You can’t miss free shots that they give you,” she said. “It’s hard work getting to the basket and you need to capitalize by making free throws.”

Mohawk’s aggressive full-court defence led to a lot of the missed box out assignments underneath their own basket, but allowed a lot of easy baskets and extra possessions at the offensive end of the court.

“Coach said in the locker room ‘great defence creates offence’ and that’s exactly what we did,” said Mosca.

Mohawk took 21 more shots than the Royals. Rachelle Abella’s eight steals helped her score a game-high 32 points for the Mountaineers, going 13-for-25 from the floor.

Kristen VanHartingsveldt (15) led the Mountaineers with 10 points in their final game of the season//Photo by Elia Koolsbergen

Mohawk’s women’s volleyball season came to an end Feb. 15 when Fanshawe visited the Fennell Gymnasium for the Mountaineers last regular season game.

The Mountaineers didn’t finish with the record they were looking for (3-15), and missed out on this year’s playoffs – but that didn’t stop the remaining women from showing up to support their school and each other.

Throughout this season several women that appeared on the roster have left the team for different reasons. Some women had scheduling conflicts arise while others let a relationship filled with tension with first-year coach Andy Nicholson decide their fate and left on their accord.

“I think it was a lot more difficult than I anticipated it was going to be,” said Nicholson. “I think my expectations of this level of volleyball was probably higher than it turned out to be. So, I really had to make a lot of adjustments to the way I was coaching and, unfortunately, I think that negatively affected the kids.”

One of the few veteran players left on the team from last year was Kristen VanHartingsveldt, who said “the team” was what kept her motivated to keep working hard throughout the disappointing season.

“There was frustration with the coach, and yeah that brought us down, but we just—we went out there and played for ourselves was what it was like,” she said.

Somewhere along the way the team realized a contending season was not in their future and decided to just have fun and make the most of their remaining games. Ironically, that is when the team started playing some of their best volleyball.

“We talked about pride,” said Nicholson. “The kids, for the most part, are prideful girls and wanted to, you know, wanted to represent Mohawk well and we played the best three teams in the division our last three games so that’s pretty tough and they played well. Funny enough, we probably played three of our best matches against the three best teams.”

One of those top-ranked teams was their final matchup of the season, Fanshawe. After dropping the first two sets (25-19 and 25-12), the women proved they came to compete and took the third set (25-23) against the Ontario Colleges’ Athletic Association West Division’s second place finishing Falcons. The women then fell just short of forcing a fifth set, losing the fourth set (25-23) and the match.

“I think the energy was good on the court,” said Mohawk’s right-side, Liz Pollock. “Everyone was communicating and stuff like that so we had a good game.”

Pollock didn’t get much playing time throughout the season but may have made her coach regret not putting on the floor more often. The first-year Hamilton native was second on her team in total offence with nine points, trailing only VanHartinsveldt who led with 10. Pollock also tied Mackenzie Lawrence for the team best seven kills.

Looking forward to next year, there should be a major turn-around in players. Nicholson said he has several highly touted recruits but is wary of who his starting setter will be.

One of this year’s setters was Megan Bros, a first-year player in the nursing program, who says she is undecided about returning to the team next year because of her rigorous study schedule. Bros said she enjoyed her first year as a varsity athlete.

“It was fun,” she said. “It was different for sure from high school. I mean, the level at first, it’s a big change because I mean I remember practicing with them in the summer and I was like ‘oh no.’ It felt like a bigger change but once you get playing, you get used it. It was a lot of fun.”

Bros said the biggest change for her was the speed of the game.

Speaking of change, starting next season, Nicholson said one thing he would like to change from his learning experience of this year is to “get in the heads” of his athletes and find out who they are as a group.

After months in limbo and hard work, the youth who have fought so hard to save their “second-home” have succeeded in preserving the downtown youth centre.

“The youth who had been trying to get it to re-open when the Globe Youth Centre had closed called themselves the ‘Globe Saviors’,” said Jordanna, a volunteer at the Youth Centre. “They were brainstorming, they would meet at Jackson square and they would meet with Don [Mahleka] and try to think of creative ways to get this place back together.”

In March of 2011, the Globe Youth Centre, which was run out of the Centenary United Church by Settlement and Immigration Services (SISO), was shut down after SISO had to cut $120 million in funding due to internal problems.

“The youth who used to come here are now part of a youth committee,” said Mahleka, who is the centres only paid employee.

Akram El Mlafi is a Mohawk College student who has been a regular at the youth centre for a few years now and has been a driving force behind it’s re-opening.

“The majority of my friends are from the youth centre,” Mlafi said. “We would have meetings and brainstorm ideas for the future and how far we have come.”

Mlafi, who came to Canada from Morocco in 2007, says his family were big supporters of the youth centre and the service it provided to the young adults who visited. “My parents would say ‘I know you’re fine there’ when I would go to the youth centre.”

The newest challenge for the youth centre is to find new people to come and use it. Mlafi, and many others like him, find out about places like the Globe Youth Centre through services such as SISO.

“The centre is no longer for newcomers, it is completely open to any youth,” Jordanna said. “That’s actually one of the challenges of recruiting is that a lot of youth hear by word of mouth and think they can’t go their, but that’s not the case.”

Mahleka stated that the youth centre is a great service for the youth who use it, providing more than just a place to hang out.

“We know that this is a haven for new youth, we are still providing that support, that network of resources in the city as well.”

The Globe Youth Centre is run out of the Centenary United Church downtown on Main Street West and is open Tuesday to Friday from 3 to 9 p.m.

The MSA’s president will not be elected for the second consecutive year.

After successfully completing the nomination package, Rick Kovacs was told by the MSA board he was no longer allowed to run.

“There was an issue that came up since the nomination period and it put him in breach of some of our policies and procedures,” says MSA President Daniel Clark. “Via our elections policy you can’t run if you’re not in good standing with the students association or the college.”

Clark would not cite the policies he was breaching, but did confirm that Kovacs would face further disciplinary action should he continue to pursue the issue.

“[Discipline] would be from the college and it could be further than that,” Clark explains. “Maybe a cease and desist order of such. He has to accept the findings for what they are.”

Kovacs is contractually obligated not to talk about the allegations he is making against the MSA and its members, but says he was pressed to resign from the board and the race for president.

In an e-mail sent from Clark to Kovacs prior to his resignation, he listed the code of ethics, code of expectations, discrimination and harassment policy, and the pub, concert and special events policy. Neither the executive committee nor the MSA board would give specific details.

“It’s a human resources issue, so that piece is kind of kept enclosed,” says Clark.

“They never told me for what reasons I broke these policies,” Kovacs says with a look of disappointment.

The pub, concert and special events policy states that, “members are not allowed to consume alcohol while wearing MSA clothing.”

“We’ve had issues in the past where we’ve enforced it strictly,” says Clark. “Starting this year it really wasn’t an issue. There were several student leaders who came to a pub night, stayed for an hour, grabbed a drink and took off. I didn’t feel that it was an issue, but it has since become one. Absolutely yes, I’ve been in the Arnie and had a drink.”

It became an issue when security started having trouble identifying staff from students. Both Clark and Kovacs admit to breaking this rule on a few occasions, but neither says the other was intoxicated.

When asked why Kovacs was found to be in breach of the policy, Clark would only say “there’s more to it and he acted inappropriately.”

Two years ago, the MSA enacted a new election policy. Any Mohawk student used to be eligible to run, but now board members are given the first pick. With Kovacs’ removal from the race, Andy Hall was appointed as next year’s MSA President.

The residing MSA president says that he would have preferred an election, but students do not need to worry.

“We as an association can assure you that even if it is an acclamation, you’re left in good hands because of the past experience those people have,” says Clark.

Spencer Abbott is the current front runner for the NCAA Hobey Baker Award//Photo courtesy mainecampus.com

Spencer Abbott grew up, like many Canadian youths, with hockey in his blood. Often times growing up, his parents would be heading in different directions driving him or his two hockey playing brothers to tournaments throughout Ontario.

Like many natural athletes, Abbott excelled at multiple sports. With a decision to make between lacrosse and hockey, and whether or not to take his approach to the sport to the next level, Abbott seems to have made the right choice.

Having a mind for hockey and experience as a coach Abbott’s father, Wayne, encouraged his son to stick to hockey. You could call it a case of father-knows-best because Abbott has excelled playing for the University of Maine, and is currently leading the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) with 49 points.

“I never really went and visited any other schools,” said Abbott about deciding on attending the University of Maine. “It was kind of just, I talked to a few schools here and there and, you know, I was planning on going to visit a couple of schools after I came to Maine. Maine was the first school I visited. I came up here and watched a game and the fans and the atmosphere were unbelievable so I decided to commit that weekend.”

After turning down offers from Western Michigan and North Eastern, Abbott is now in his fourth year as a Black Bear and is currently leading in votes for nominations of the Hobey Baker Award. The Hobey Baker Award, a lot like the Heisman trophy for football, is awarded to the NCAA’s top hockey player for the season.

“It’s obviously very special to be among, you know, the 60 or 70 guys on the Hobey Baker list but I try not to think about it too much,” he said. “It’s something that you try and put in the back of your mind and if something like that comes for me then great – if not, then whatever, as long as I had a good season and hopefully move on to play for a professional team.”

Abbott has accounted for 19 per cent of the votes so far, one per cent ahead of Jack Connolly from the University of Maryland. Abbott also leads Connolly by one point in this season’s scoring race.

“It’s been a great season for me personally and for the team,” said Abbott.

“I never thought anything like this was going to happen for me but every year, you know, you just learn so much more. And in college, if you can really grasp those things you learned over the years, you can produce a lot of points in this league.”

Abbott started learning the game of hockey at a very early age in Hamilton’s house league program then moved on to triple-A before becoming a member of the Hamilton Red Wings juniour-A team. In his second year with the Red Wings, he attended Mohawk College for two semesters to pick up credits that allowed him to attend university in Maine.

“(Abbott) had outstanding offensive ability, obviously,” said Scott Elliott, who coached Abbott in his first year with the Red Wings. “He had tremendous work ethic and an instinctive nature to learn. He always wanted to learn how he could be better, how he could be more useful for the team in order for the team to be better.”

Elliott said he would tell Abbott to just continue to learn the game in order to improve and that with his work ethic he would turn into an effective hockey player.

Abbott’s father also wants his son to keep his mind focused on having the best season possible, and to avoid off-ice distractions. However, scouts have already started to notice the talents of the scoring forward. Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager, Brian Burke, told Abbott’s father that Spencer is “the smartest player in college hockey.”

The University of Maine is ranked eleventh in NCAA rankings and is poised to join the other 15 top-ranked teams in the country for America’s national championship tournament, The Frozen Four. This year’s tournament will be held on April 5 and 7 in Tampa, Florida.

Abbott says he thinks his team has a “really good shot to contend” in the tournament if they can take care of business in their few remaining games and playoffs.

The three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award will be invited to the Frozen Four tournament, where the winner will be announced after a long season of narrowing down the nominees. Previous notable winners of the award are Paul Kariya (1993), Chris Drury (1998) and Ryan Miller (2001).

Jason Meisel (right)

“I know it’s going to be a stand up fight…”

After over two-months of talks, undefeated prospect Jason Meisel’s (2-0) next bout is confirmed. The Caledonia fighter, 25, will be squaring off against Barrie’s Mike Sledzion (3-2) at Hamilton Place on March 16.

“He’s got a different style,” Meisel said about his upcoming opponent. “I think he has a Karate background. I know he’s a stand up guy. [Sledzion] doesn’t go to the ground too much and that’s kind of what I was hoping for so I can really showcase my hands but it is mixed martial arts so I’ll do whatever I have to to win.”

Meisel said he’s been training for Sledzion’s “awkward style.”

“[Sledzion] throws a lot of like weird bombs and punches like that coming from different angles. I’m just working on keeping my hands up and stuff and hopefully I don’t get hit by one of those and end up on the mat,” Meisel said with a laugh.

Being a very team based fighter, Meisel will be leaving it up to his coaches to watch Sledzion’s previous bouts and analyze his style. Meisel says he doesn’t like watching his opponent knocking people out because then it’s “in his head.”

“I know it’s going to be a stand up fight,” Meisel said. “I just like to have battles.”

Meisel will be fighting in Hamilton Place for the second time and this will be the third time his bout will be aired nationally on The Score for its mixed martial arts promotion, The Score Fighting Series.

Since Meisel’s last bout with Joel Paquette (0-1), he says he’s improved on his ground game after he was “caught off guard” by Paquette shooting in for a takedown early in their fight.

“I didn’t expect that from [Paquette] but I knew he trained with John Fraser so I knew he had a background in Jiu-jitsu and John Fraser is a well-known Jiu-jitsu guy and he’s had his stand up fights but we prepared for that. We prepared for everything against Joel.”

Ronald McDonald House Hamilton (RMHH) and Liaison College have joined forces to give families and students alike a unique and delicious opportunity. RMHH will soon house a fully stocked catering kitchen built and staffed by Liaison Culinary College. Liaison students will be given the chance to learn and prepare restaurant quality meals for families staying at the house.

“We’re the first house in all of Canada, and as far as we know, the United States that are having this unique type of partnership,” says Debbie Logel Butler, the Director of Development at Ronald McDonald House Hamilton. “We believe one of the most important things for our families is that they get good wholesome and healthy food. Our past Home for Dinner program, which was volunteer based, would no longer be able to keep everyone fed since we’ve gone from housing 15 families to 40. We could now be feeding 100 to 120 people per night after we reopen.”

The kitchen, completely designed by Liaison College, will serve as a classroom for students that will be shuttled in to learn in a live environment, something Liaison Chef Instructor Greg Singh is all too excited for.

“It’s a variety of different things that they get to be exposed to with regards to cooking,” Singh says. “When you cook one on one, maybe one or two portions, you’ve taught the basics, but when you actually go ahead and teach for large quantities, the 80 to 100 people we will be cooking for on a daily basis, then you get a different set of skills. Making sure you’ve got your timing down right. Making sure you have the quality of the food proper. That it’s hot when it goes out. All the important things that we actually stress on a day-to-day basis. Now it becomes real life and you have real life deadlines. You have people that are actually coming in to eat as opposed to a lab or classroom type setting.”

Since families staying at RMHH have no set schedule, food will need to be portable, nutritious and kept fresh so families can stay strong in the face of adversity.

“I think food is a great comfort,” says Singh. “It’s one of these things that harkens you back to your childhood. You’ve tasted something and it sparked a memory and made you very happy. It takes you to a better time sometimes. I believe in that 100 per cent. I think that will definitely help families out and get them in a good frame of mind.”

The menu families will be treated to will be based on a monthly rotation, giving families a wide variety of professionally cooked meals. Singh says the food selection will be a delicate balance of “spiced up” comfort foods, like macaroni and cheese, and dishes that will challenge his students in the kitchen.

RMHH is set to reopen its doors sometime in April. Before then, Singh says they’re working around the clock to prepare four different events in appreciation of their donors and volunteers.

“We want to introduce the whole facility again because it’s been around, but it’s only been a 15 room facility and we’re up to 40 rooms now,” Singh says. “We want to make sure that people come in and know what we’re offering and how proud we are of what we’re doing. For the whole month of April we’re working out things like this. So we’re excited to see this come to fruition and to get in there to get our hands dirty.”

Julie Gagnon (front) and Ashley Hagen attempt to block one of Humber's 41 kills//Photo by Elia Koolsbergen

The undefeated Humber Hawks travelled to Hamilton Feb. 8 to face Mohawk’s women’s volleyball team who, even though rank second to last in their division, have still come up with a reason to show up and work hard.

“We’re just playing just to have fun and we’re going to try our hardest to maybe set new records or just reach new goals but it was a good season – things could have been better but things could have been worse too,” said Mohawk’s right side Chi Chi Chuks-Mady.

The home team failed to win a set against the now 16-0 Hawks but improved their play throughout the three-set match (25-7, 25-15 and 25-22). During the season the women were known for hanging their heads when matches were starting to not go their way. However, Wednesday night was different when the team refused to let a bad attitude affect their play.

“I think, at this point, we’re just trying to have a good time and at the same time we’re trying to improve our team spirit kind of deal,” said Mohawk’s libero Melanie Patenaude.

With a shorter bench than last year, and several players leaving the team this semester, Patenaude said she misses the cheering that would come from the sidelines a year ago.

The Mountaineers found themselves in a quick 7-0 hole to start the first set of the match where Mohawk only managed four offensive points combined with three errors for Humber.

In the second set, the Mountaineers picked up their energy level and started playing much better defence. The score was much closer and Julie Gagnon brought Mohawk into a 9-9 tie with a kill – but again the Mountaineers failed to gain a lead and Humber pulled away in the latter half of the set.

Mohawk’s first lead came by way of a net violation for the first point of the final set. Determined to go down swinging, the Mountaineers held a 15-11 lead in the middle of the final frame. Humber took over, however, and scored five straight points including back-to-back kills by Rebecca Sobie. The streak gave the Hawks a lead they would not relinquish.

Sobie was the leading scorer of the game with nine kills and three service aces for 12 points while Mackenzie Lawrence led the way for Mohawk with five kills, one service ace and two stuff blocks for eight points.

As for Mohawk’s final game against Fanshawe next week, Patenaude says her team has nothing to lose.

“I think that we just want to kind of finalize our whole season on a good note and play our hardest and, you know, call every ball and just like dive for everything.”