Bulloch and Seguin solid in loss to Laval Rouge et Or
The women’s volleyball team faced the Laval Rouge et Or at Montpetit Hall on Sunday afternoon.
Ottawa entered action 0-16 on the season following Friday’s 3-1 loss to the McGill Martlets in Montreal. Coming into play on Sunday, Laval was 9-5 on the season and sitting in third place.
The Gee-Gees opened up a quick two-point lead thanks to smart and deceitful play that confused the Rouge et Or early in the first set. The Gees were able to widen their lead all the way to 16-10 before forcing the Rouge et Or to take a time out. Ottawa kept up the pressure and was able to take a commanding 22-14 lead and force Laval to take another timeout.
The Gees eventually took the set 25-15 in a seemingly dominating performance over one of the top teams in the RSEQ.
Laval roared back at the Gee-Gees in the second set and was up 8-0 in a blink, forcing Gee-Gees head coach Lionel Woods to call a timeout. The Gees finally put up a point on the board on a nice smash to make it 9-1. A big block from Nieve Seguin made it 9-3 as Ottawa crawled back into the set.
A missed serve by Trinity Lusan and a bad return from Seguin made it 12-5 for Laval. The Rouge et Or then made it 13-7 on a smash that Milana Grahovac took flush to the face. Ottawa kept pace with Laval as the set went on but were down by five or six until the 19 point mark when they were able to cut the lead down to only two, but Laval managed to slip away and take the set 25-19 after a timeout was called by the Laval head coach.
With the game tied at one, the Rouge et Or and Gee-Gees split the opening points of the third set. Laval was eventually able to put together a three-point streak and take a 7-4 lead but Ottawa came right back with a streak of their own to make it 7-6. Ottawa was never able to tie it, coming close multiple times and down by only one or two points in the set. The Gees seemed cursed every time they got within one point.
Laval held on to their small leads until they took a big lead at around the 19 point mark and took the set 25-17.
Laval opened the fourth set the same way they closed the third set, dominating the GeeGees and taking an early 5-2 lead. Ottawa was able to come back and tied the set at eight the lead on a solid block from Dana Bulloch. Laval struck back and took the lead right back on a couple of smashes.
The Gees did keep up with Laval and kept fighting to the best od their ability to stay in the set and game but a bad play by Grahovac and a nice smash by Laval kept the Gees from taking the lead.
Laval kept pushing and soon was up by five at 19-14 but Ottawa managed to cut the lead down to three in hopes of desperately tying the set. Both teams battled for the rest of the set but Laval was able to come out on top and took the set 25-20 and the game 3-1.
“I like the atmosphere the last couple of matches, we took a set from McGill on Friday and a set off Laval today and played competitively the whole match today instead of up and down,” said Gee-Gees head coach Lionel Woods.
“The same things hurt us again, a little lack of processing the adjustments we could have made but I’m happy of the young kids and the progress they have made.”
The Gee-Gees will be back on the court on Friday when they take on the UQAM Citadins in Montreal. The ladies in grey and garnet will end their season on Feb. 8 at Montpetit Hall when they face the Sherbrooke vert et or at 2 p.m.
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