Gee-Gees stay positive as they suffer sixth straight loss
After dropping their first game of the season against McGill University on Nov. 3, the Gee-Gees faced the Martlets for the second time this week at Montpetit Gym on Friday night.
This was the first time the University of Ottawa women’s volleyball team played at home since their home opener on Oct.18 against the University of Quebec in Montreal Citadins.
The McGill squad took down the Gee-Gees in three straight sets in their Nov. 3 meeting in Montreal.
Veteran player Kara Hayes has been a huge presence for the U of O team this season.
“Going into a game like this, we used the loss to really fire us up and take what we knew about them to come into this game energized and ready to go,” Hayes said.
Fired up, the Gee-Gees put up the first few points on the board.
The Gees, however, never took a meaningful lead, and the Martlets eventually pulled ahead to take the game’s first set 25-18, the exact same score as the first set of their last meeting.
The next set was an entirely different story for both teams.
McGill was aggressive, and the score was 6-1 before the ladies in Grey and Garnet could blink.
Fourth-year Gee-Gee Dana Bulloch then broke the team’s bad streak and went on a five-point serving run to tie the game at six.
The teams matched scores again at 24.
In front of a loud home crowd, points went back and forth until rookie Michaela Jones served for the Gees.
With the score at 25, the Martlets were unable to return Jones first serve, giving Ottawa the advantage.
The Gee-Gees were able to reel in the last point to take the second set 27-25.
The game was tied at one.
“We played with a little more fire, we had some of our rookies come in with really big attitudes and presence,” Hayes said. “I feel like other people really came out of their shell and joined them on that level too.”
Unfortunately for the U of O, McGill did not let up.
The momentum shifted quickly, and soon enough, the third set was too far out of reach for the home squad.
Even with impressive digs and attacks the Gee-Gees, the ball rarely stopped on McGill’s side of the court.
Dropping the third set 25-12, the Gees needed to win the next set to have a chance at earning their first win of the season.
The fourth set was not the blowout that the third was. The Gees, using a more veteran lineup, were able to keep up, but never got ahead.
Near the end, the Gees made a small comeback but could not stop McGill from winning the set 25-20, and taking the game 3-1.
“Our volleyball broke, our spirit, our mindset, and our approach didn’t,” U of O head coach Lionel Woods said after the game.
“As the game got tight we didn’t bring as much energy and aggressiveness,” Hayes said.
With the loss, the Gee-Gees still sit at the bottom of the RSEQ conference standings with an 0-6 record.
“I didn’t think our veterans had their best volleyball game but I’m real proud of our team and how we’re going at this,” Woods said.
The volleyball team will be back at Montpetit Gym on Sunday when they take on the University of Sherbrooke at 1 p.m.
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