THUNDER BAY – SPORTS – The Lakehead University Thunderwolves women’s volleyball team were great for stretches of the match, but couldn’t cobble them together on Saturday afternoon, losing 3-0 to the Ryerson Rams (25-19, 25-14, 25-23).
Both in the first and second sets Lakehead got down early and trailed 16-12 at the technical timeouts before giving up three straight points out of the timeouts, leading to an easy set win for the Rams.
The ‘Wolves did show grit in the second set, down 7-0 to begin the set before going on a 6-0 run to narrow the Rams’ lead to 10-8, but they lacked consistency point to point.
In the third set, Lakehead got their first lead of the game, 2-0 to begin the set and would hold it until Ryerson went on a 5-0 run to take an 18-15 lead. Both teams struggled in the third from the service line, but Ryerson would make fewer errors and close out the match, 25-23.
Breanne Hilhorst made 19 digs and an assist for Lakehead, keeping them alive on many rallies with her quick reflexes.
Jen Casey and Kailan Robinson had 9 kills each, although Casey’s offensive performance was overshadowed by 12 hitting errors. She did make 8 digs on the defensive side of things. Vanessa Masters made 20 assists for the Lakehead offence.
Ryerson got 10 kills and 10 digs from Veronica Livingston.
Coach Chris Green commented, “The match today once again shows us that we are befuddled as to how to perform on the court like we do in practice. I know this team has not yet brought their practice mentality to the floor. Until they do I am not sure we can expect a different result.”
“As a staff, we’re perplexed as to our player’s philosophy on play. I see it and hear it, they know what they have to do, but to do it is where we are stalling. The obvious area is in the stats – too many errors. We can’t expect anything when we execute 27 attack errors. That is the only stat line that matters.”
“We will get ready to focus on Ottawa and see what the rebound is. Keep searching for that right combination.”
The women’s team plays Ottawa tomorrow at 2 pm. The Webcast of the game will be available via OUA TV
