It was the last career game for Tristan Peterson, Robin Melnick and Magalie Frappier
After yet another tough season, the Gee-Gees women’s volleyball team was hoping to conclude their season with a win on Sunday afternoon as they welcomed the Laval University Rouge et Or at Montpetit Hall.
On Friday, the team was swept in straight sets by the McGill Martlets in Montreal and were looking for redemption in front of their home crowd. The Gee-Gees were also looking to avenge their 3-0 loss to Laval that took place on Nov. 27 in Quebec City.
After losing the first set 25-16, the Gee-Gees were able to put pressure on the visitors and pull away with a 25-20 win in the second set. However, that would be it for the Gees who then dropped subsequent sets to hand Laval its ninth win of the season.
Despite the score, there were some positives for the U of O squad. For example, they out attacked Laval by a score of 144-129 — a small moral victory against the second best team in the Réseau du Sport Étudiant du Québec (RSEQ).
Speaking to the media after the game, longtime head coach Lionel Woods was happy with his team’s start. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the long pause due to COVID-19 restrictions and lingering effects of protests in Ottawa had a negative impact on his team — one that showed later in the match.
“We started playing really well in the second and third sets, but then we kind of fizzled out of volleyball. I’ll go with volleyball fitness, not athletic fitness, but volleyball fitness. Again, we’ve been off for three months and when the other teams came back, we still sat out because of a protest and five more days of COVID-19. I think it just showed because we were in a pretty good place with passing and serving at the start,” said Woods after the game.
Gee-Gees middle Janae Mckay was able to distinguish herself, amassing a total of 11 points in the match.
Before the game, the Gee-Gees honoured their three graduating senior players in Robin Melnick, Magalie Frappier and Tristan Peterson.
“The three of them really have tried everything they can to get this group as far along as they can, with as little as we had,” said Woods.
Frappier was pretty nostalgic as she played her last game of a five-year college career.
“I’ve had a lot of growth and have developed great friendships. This is a win-win experience in your life. I think it’s just amazing how much you grow from that,” said Frappier.
Melnick said she enjoyed every moment of her last career game and felt extra motivation ahead of this match.
“I think it was just to go out there and have some fun, like, have a good last time with all my teammates and really enjoy everything. We have worked hard to get to this moment. Honestly, I was pretty pumped that my teammates got a bit sad. That was pretty cool,” said Melnick.
The women’s volleyball team concluded its 2021-2022 regular season with a record of 1 win and 10 losses. The Gees won their only game of the season back on Nov. 21 against the Patriotes de l’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) by a score of 3-1.
