Volleyball (W) - News

Women’s volleyball (6-9 OUA, 7-12 overall)

Hosted York (10-5 OUA) Saturday, February 06, 2010 at Montpetit Hall, 3:30 p.m.

GAME STORY

Coming off their last match against Laurier (4-11 OUA) the Gee-Gees continued to show perseverance and strong play at the net this afternoon against York (10-5 OUA).

The first set was close and the Gee-Gees kept up with York, who is currently third in the OUA East Division, to win the first set 27-25. Strong kills by left-side/right-side Karina Krueger Schwanke (Blumenau, Brazil) and first-year left-side/right-side Melissa Morelli (London, Ont.).

The second set York took advantage of mistakes on the Gee-Gees side of the court and uOttawa seemed to lose some of their momentum. The Lions captured the second set 25-18 over the Gee-Gees.

The Gee-Gees had to work a little harder to keep up with the Lions the third set. uOttawa had trouble executing serves and lost points on serves that did not make it to York’s side of the court. The Gee-Gees redeemed themselves and caught up to the Lions half-way through the game. Both left-side/right-side Stephanie McGunity (Ottawa, Ont.) and Krueger Schwanke were powerful forces for the Gee-Gees; McGunity with eight kills and Krueger Schwanke with ten. The Gee-Gees fell just short of the win, losing 25-23 to York.

The fourth set the Gee-Gees surged ahead of Lions, taking a brief five point lead over York that the Lions quickly closed. The fans enthusiasm seemed to encourage the Gee-Gees, as the uOttawa men’s club team had quite a presence at the game this afternoon. Captain and setter Tess Edwards (Ottawa, Ont.) had a brilliant play- a backwards tip-which fooled York. York caught up to uOttawa and the last five points of the game were exciting, as both teams battled point-for-point. Middle Joanie Beauregard-Veillette pushed the ball deep to give the Gee-Gees a 24-22 advantage over York and uOttawa secured the last point to win the game 25-22.

The fifth set was fast-paced and intense. Both teams showed remarkable effort and players were diving everywhere in order to keep the ball alive. Gee-Gees players Krueger Schwanke, Morelli, and McGuinty all had a massive number of kills for uOttawa. The Gee-Gees won the fifth set 15-12 against York.

“The confidence was there,” said Woods, “We are as fit as any team in Ontario [right now].”

Woods explained that Gee-Gees strength coaches Lenny Sabourin and Tomasz Dern have made a huge contribution the to team this year. Woods said that the Gee-Gees previous record does not matter and that the Gee-Gees primary focus is playoffs right now.

“I don’t care about our record [last semester],” stated Woods, “I care about being a dangerous team [in playoffs].”

Middle Beauregard-Veillete said she was proud of her team’s performance today and said the team is looking towards their next matches.

“For me it’s all about the energy,” explained Beauregard-Veillete, “I don’t think our mental attitude could be better for tomorrow [against Waterloo].”

Teammate left-side/right-side Krueger Schwanke also commented on her team’s mental attitude today against York.

“Sometimes we lose the first set, but we still persevere,” said Krueger Schwanke.

The Gee-Gees take on Waterloo (12-5 OUA) tomorrow after at Monpetit Hall at 2:30 p.m.