Gee-Gees deliver convincing blow to Queen's Gaels in 3-0 victory

Gee-Gees deliver convincing blow to Queen's Gaels in 3-0 victory

Team Stats

January 27, 2013

Coming into the match on Jan. 27 the Gee-Gees women's volleyball team knew they needed a win over their rivals, the Queen's Gaels, to have a shot at finishing first in the OUA. And the Gee-Gees certainly played like a team who needed a win, as they swept away the Gaels in a 3-0 win. With the victory, Ottawa improved their record to 15-1; on the other hand, the Gaels have been all but eliminated from the hunt for first place as they fell to 11-3. The game represented a rematch of the 2012 OUA Gold Medal game, which Queen's won 3-1.

"We were focused from start to finish. I was really impressed with our desire to block and our desire to play with the same mental attitude the entire match. I couldn't be prouder of our team," said Gee-Gees head coach Lionel Woods.

Before the start of the match, the Gee-Gees held a ceremony to celebrate their graduating seniors, Karina Krueger Schwanke, Christina Grail, and Kathryn Weihrer. Schwanke and Grail scored three of the Gee-Gees' five points as Ottawa took their first lead of the match at 5-4. Shortly after, Weihrer earned two straight blocks to give her team a 9-7 advantage. Inspired by their seniors, the Gee-Gees played with much intensity and took a 16-10 lead at the technical break. Ottawa simply dominated on the blocks in the first set en route a 25-20 win. Third-year right side hitter Kelsie English had the final kill to finish off the Gaels.

"Christina used our weapons so well and for Karina and Kathryn to have that kind of a performance, it was really awesome to see," said Woods.

The Gee-Gees' strong presence on the blocks continued into the second set as Kelsie English had a huge solo block to give Ottawa a 5-4 lead. A closely-contested set ensued with the Gaels taking a slim 16-14 lead at the technical. But with Schwanke serving, Ottawa rattled off six straight points to re-take the lead at 20-17, a run highlighted by English's powerful spike for a kill. The Gee-Gees finished the set on an 11-3 streak as Ottawa took the second set 25-20.

After Queen's scored the first three points of set number three, Kelsie English got the Gee-Gees on the board with a key kill down the middle of the court. Schwanke and third-year outside hitter Myriam English paced the Gee-Gees offence as they fought the Gaels point-for-point in the early portions of the third set. Schwanke helped the Gee-Gees take their first lead of the third set at 9-8, with Ottawa scoring five straight points out of their timeout. And unlike their past two matches the Gee-Gees kept their foot on the pedal, as their lead ballooned to 15-10. With Ottawa firing on all cylinders, the rest of the set was merely a formality as Ottawa wrapped up the sweep with a 25-15 win.

"It was a really fun game to play. Queen's is a good defensive team and they made us think offensively but that was okay because we have a lot of different offensive outlets to go to. I'm really excited about how we played," explained Weihrer.

uOttawa will now head into a bye week, before they finish off the regular season with two road matches against the Lakehead Thunderwolves.

1 2 3 Final
Queen's 20 20 15 0
Gee-Gees 25 25 25 3
Gee-Gees leading players: Karina Krueger Schwanke 9 kills, 10 digs, Christina Grail 21 assists, 4 digs
Queen's leading players: Katie Hagarty 7 kills, 8 digs, Kelsey Bishop
5 kills, 6 digs