THUNDER BAY – LU SPORTS – The Lakehead University women’s volleyball team was defeated Friday evening , 3-0 by the Queen’s Gaels (22-25, 19-25, 13-25).
Coach Chris Green said, “Tonight was a night that saw us show we are still searching for the right combination of athletes to succeed together on the court. Our girls have worked hard to be ready. I am at a loss as to why we failed to execute a game-plan that was ready. Our girls are looking at each other and I feel they need to concentrate on their individual execution more. I am supportive of the learning curve. We will figure it out. Stephanie Chartrand played well as did Jasmine Fox. I felt Sarah Hudson did a good job but her passers did not assist her and made her job tough. I hope they work on that more tomorrow, RMC is going to challenge our passing. We need to be better tomorrow. I am confident we will be.”
The ‘Wolves enjoyed a 5-1 lead early in the first set, but after a Queen’s run that tied the game at 6, the Gaels moved ahead and stayed there for the majority of the game. The ‘Wolves played well in spurts, as in the 2nd set where they battled from down 24-18 with 4 straight points before surrendering the set.
With a tough line of back court defenders, the Gaels rarely let a ball hit the floor, while on the ‘Wolves side there seemed to be open spaces found for the Gaels’ attack.
Things came unravelled in the third set as the Gaels kept the pedal to the floor and the ‘Wolves had few answers.
Leading scorer for Lakehead was Jasmine Fox with 9.5 points (9 kills, .5 block) while Jorie Daymond had 7 points with 10 digs. Stephanie Chartrand had 6 kills. Setter Sarah Hudson made 16 assists while libero Breanne Hilhorst made 11 digs.
For Queen’s, right side Kelsey Bishop led with 16 points (12 kills, 3 blocks, 1 ace), followed by Shannon Hopkins with 9 kills. Setter Gabrielle Down assisted on 29 kills.
The women’s team plays RMC tomorrow in the Thunderdome at 7:00pm.