SEASON PREVIEW: Women’s volleyball returns to court this weekend

After an extended offseason, the Gee-Gees women's volleyball team is rearing to return to the court.

The program's first official league game since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic comes against UQAM and is set for Sunday, Oct. 17 at 2:00 p.m. at Montpetit Hall. Tickets are on sale at tickets.geegees.ca.

While the 2020-21 RSEQ volleyball season was cancelled due to the pandemic, the uOttawa volleyball program never stopped working. The team was in the gym consistently while following local public health guidelines.

"Our university and varsity admin & medical staff were the real heroes for us," said Gee-Gees head coach Lionel Woods. "They were proactive and willing to stay in line with OPH protocols all year long to do whatever possible to allow our teams to train and stay active through the pandemic."

"I'm excited to play alongside a young but extremely motivated and hard-working group of girls," said fourth year left side Tristan Peterson. "Our COVID year of training allowed us to bond off the court and in training and now I'm just pumped to compete with such an amazing team."

There's a new wrinkle in the Quebec conference this season, as the UQTR Patriotes have been added. UQTR dominated the RSEQ Second Division, winning three straight championships from 2017 through 2019. Ottawa travels to Trois-Rivières for the first time on Oct. 31 and the Pats visit the Nation's Capital on Nov. 21.

With the addition of a seventh program, each team will now play a regular season circuit of 18 matches, down from 20 in previous years.

A number of Gee-Gees who had promising 2019-20 campaigns are returning to the fold, headlined by senior libero Magalie Frappier. The Plantagenet, Ont., product had a digs per set ratio of 2.56 last season.

Ottawa will benefit from Tristan Peterson returning to the lineup. Peterson missed the entire 2019-20 regular season with a hip injury, but will be aiming to pick up where she left off in 2018-19, when she recorded 1.79 kills-per-set.

"It was the first time I wasn't playing volleyball in 10 years," said Peterson of her injury. "I learned a lot about myself and my body and I came back even stronger, which I'm really proud of."

Portia Cooper, Alana Leung, Michaela Jones and Trinity Lusan are all looking for solid sophomore seasons. 

A couple of key players graduated from the Gee-Gees since they were last on the court. Left side Kara Hayes and middle blocker Dana Bulloch finished one-two one the team in kills in 2019-20, while Emily Lenton was a consistent setter.

"I'm quite simply excited to see the team play and compete again," exclaimed Woods, who will be marking his 30th season at the helm of the program in 2021-22. "It's one thing to see lots of personal development and improvement, but everyone wants to take that training and match it up against an opponent."

Two separate rookie classes will make their Garnet and Grey debuts in 2021-22 – those who were recruited for the 2020-21 season and those recruited for 2021-22. Five Gee-Gees are set to get their first taste of RSEQ experience; Shay Kirk, Maxim Langevin, Danika Robert, Nicole Wernham and Janae McKay. 

The RSEQ regular season runs through Feb. 20, with playoffs getting underway on March 4. The 2022 U SPORTS Women's Volleyball National Championship will be hosted by the University of Calgary from March 25-27.