Fourth-ranked Gee-Gees face rematch with Western

Hosting Western (3-2 OUA) Sunday, November 18, 2:00 p.m. (SSN Canada)

After thoroughly dominating the Brock Badgers in a 3-0 win on Nov. 10, the Gee-Gees women's volleyball team has climbed up to fourth spot in the CIS Top 10 poll, their highest ranking so far this season. The three teams ahead of Ottawa all hail from the traditionally strong Canada West conference, but all three teams have suffered losses this season, unlike the Gee-Gees who are 6-0. Ottawa's current homestand will continue this weekend as they host the Western Mustangs at Montpetit Hall on Sunday afternoon. The two teams met previously on Oct. 21 in London, and Ottawa earned a 3-0 victory in that match.

"That was the best match we have played in league play this year, from start to finish," said Gee-Gees head coach Lionel Woods about the Brock game. "The number of unforced errors was very low and we just did our jobs so well, both individually and as a group."

While established veterans such as third-year left side hitter Karina Krueger Schwanke and fourth-year setter Christina Grail were excellent in the match against Brock, younger players such as sophomore Colleen Morelli and rookie Veronique Caya have also been playing well all season long, off the bench. Woods explained that the amount of depth that these young players provide for the team is a big strength for the Gee-Gees.

"Colleen has done a great job of improving each week to the point where I have no concern with her starting some matches and getting more playing time. I don't really consider her a non-starter anymore. Caya has looked really comfortable and is among the leaders in the country in aces per set," said Woods. "There's not a big gap between the starters and the next group of players, and that's good because we're going to need more than six or seven players this season."

The Mustangs have recovered well after losing to the Gee-Gees last month as they have climbed up to fifth place in the OUA standings. Western is led by a pair of seniors in Rebecca Oxland and Danielle Marshall. Oxland, a left side hitter, is the leading scorer on the Western team with 95.5 points, while Marshall is a talented middle player who has top-notch blocking skills.

"We need to show up like we did last weekend, with our best possible effort. Western is a very talented team and they're going to come out hard after us and we need to have that mental focus that we had last weekend," Woods explained.