"I think the thing I really liked today was that we got more aggression back in our serves and that served us well," said Gee-Gees head coach Lionel Woods. "We've done a lot of heavy lifting to get back to the Final Four, that was our goal, so we're excited to go and we're going to try to shoot for the next step-to get one more win [than last year]."
Third-year right side hitter Kelsie English and sophomore middle Alix Durivage combined to score four of the Gee-Gees' first five points in the first set as Ottawa took an early 5-2 lead. While neither team looked completely in sync on offence to start the match, solid defensive play from fourth-year setter Christina Grail and excellent serving from third-year outside hitter Myriam English helped the Gee-Gees extend their lead to 13-4. Normally a strong serving team, the Gee-Gees had zero aces in their weekend split against Lakehead last week-against Western, Ottawa earned three aces in the first set. The Gee-Gees had a 16-6 lead by the technical and while the Mustangs regrouped late to make the score more respectable, the Gee-Gees earned a 25-13 win in the first set.
Unforced errors by the Gee-Gees and stellar blocking from Western meant the Mustangs led 7-4 to start the second set. While Grail had a huge block to trim the Mustangs' lead to 10-8, Western scored the next three points, forcing Woods to burn a second timeout at the 13-8 mark. A resilient Gee-Gees squad slowly chipped away at the Mustangs' lead, as fifth-year middle Kathryn Weihrer scored three straight points, trimming the deficit to just 19-17. Ottawa got as close as 21-20 following a kill by Kelsie English but a key Ottawa service error led to a 25-22 win by Western.
The two teams traded blow after blow to start the third set, with Weihrer continuing to play well on the front line. Sparked by their captain's play, the Gee-Gees went on an 8-1 run, with third-year left side hitter Karina Krueger Schwanke stepping up on offence. With Grail setting up creative assists for the Gee-Gees attackers, Ottawa led 16-9 at the technical. The Mustangs were unable to swing the momentum back in their favour, as the Gee-Gees won 25-12 in the third set.
"We executed well today, we worked well as a team and I think that showed up in the results. We let off a little bit in the second set but we came back together when it mattered," said Kelsie English. "We're going to play like we can next week, and hopefully, we'll be able to bring the title home."
Facing elimination, the Mustangs came out fired up for the fourth set, taking a 6-3 lead behind the strong play of their outside hitters. The Gee-Gees eventually took the lead at 12-11 after two aces by Grail, and would never relinquish it, as Ottawa got stronger as a team as the set progressed. uOttawa ended up with a well-earned 25-18 victory in the fourth set-Schwanke had seven kills in the fourth frame to pace the Gee-Gees' offence.
Stay tuned on geegees.ca as the Gee-Gees' opponent in the OUA Final Four will be determined at the conclusion of this evening's OUA matches. Ottawa will either host the Final Four or head to York University next weekend, depending on the results of the York-Lakehead match tonight.
| |
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
Final
|
|
Western
|
13
|
25
|
12
|
18
|
1
|
|
Gee-Gees
|
25
|
22
|
25
|
25
|
3
|
Gee-Gees leading players: Kelsie English 13 kills, 8 digs, Myriam English 13 kills, 16 digs
Western leading players: Stephanie Krueter 9 kills, 7 digs, Rebecca Oxland 8 kills, 9 digs
