Team needs to stay aggressive ahead of difficult competition ahead
Photo credit: Remi Yuan
Unlike the first time the Gee-Gees women’s volleyball team met the Nipissing Lakers this season, the Gees had confidence during their play and redeemed themselves with a 3-0 win in their Nov. 22 rematch.
The ladies had an impressive opening set and kept Nipissing at eight points for the majority of the match. Fourth-year Alix Durivage took the Gees ahead 20-8 with eight straight serves in a row.
In the following set, third-year setter Kari Tome continuously put the ball in a scoring position for her teammates and helped bring the team to an early lead. But several service errors on the Gees’ part gave the Lakers an opportunity to win the match. T
he Lakers and the Gee-Gees were neck and neck during the last set. At multiple times, the score was tied and Nipissing had a chance to bring the game into a fourth. But the garnet and grey pulled ahead with a final score of 26-24.
“I thought we were in full control and at a good pace in set one, but it’s hard to stay at that pace for an entire match,” said head coach Lionel Woods. “Our service was aggressive, but it was a nightmare in set two. “I don’t want to get that back by just popping them over and making it easy—we have to get that back with an aggressive mindset and I thought we did at the end today.”
The following day, the U of O took on the York Lions. Once again, the Gees had to face a team they had lost to earlier in the season.
The Lions came into the game with a 12.4 kills-per-set average, third in the nation. So it came as a surprise when the Gee-Gees destroyed York in the second set 25-11 and ended the game in three.
“That was our most complete match all season,” said Woods. “Everybody was making plays today—very few balls hit the floor cleanly on our side.”
Overall, even though the Gee-Gees beat both teams in three quick sets, they’ll have to keep working on playing consistently strong and together throughout the game.
“Our goal for the remainder of the year is definitely to finish with two victories,” said fifth-year Kelsie English. “I think were just looking to make sure we come out and give two solid performances, and staying connected.”
The garnet and grey’s defence has to stay resilient, and their passing needs to get to the setter position in order to have quality kills. The team has to make it more difficult for their opponents if they want to have success later in the season.
