The women’s volleyball team continued their strong season on the weekend, defeating the Waterloo Warriors and the Laurier Golden Hawks to bring their winning streak to five games.
On Saturday, the Gaels made quick work of the Warriors, sweeping them away 25-19, 25-12, 25-22. Outside hitter Lorna Button, middle Katie Neville and middle Katie Matthews all recorded six kills for Queen’s and defensively, outside hitter Natalie Gray picked up a match-high 14 digs.
On Sunday the Golden Hawks forced a fourth set, but the Gaels still prevailed, winning 25-16, 18-25, 25-22, 25-20. Outside hitter Colleen Ogilvie put away 15 kills and libero Becky Billings led the team with 24 digs.
The wins vaulted the Gaels’ record to 9-1 on the season. They trail only the 11-1 York Lions in the OUA East.
Ogilvie said she was pleased to see her team continue their hot play and pick up the valuable wins.
“They were both good games,” Ogilvie said. “I think we’re at the stage where we are one of the dominating teams in the OUA so it’s important for us to take every win.”
Laurier was able to push back against the Gaels and Ogilvie said she was impressed with her team’s resiliency in the match.
“Laurier fought really hard but I think the big thing was that we were down … and we managed to comeback,” she said. “It showed a lot of composure on our part.”
Head coach Joely Christian-Macfarlane said while she was happy to see her team win, they will need to improve their play if they want to continue their success.
“We weren’t consistent [against Laurier],” she said. “We came out great, dominating the first set but then I don’t know if that score shifted our intensity slightly. We definitely settled back in the second and the third. Being down in the fourth and then fighting back to win showed some guts but we should have never put ourselves in that situation.”
Christian-Macfarlane had mixed opinions about letting the Golden Hawks back in to the game on Sunday.
“What was good about being down is that in the third and the fourth [sets] we had to fight our way back and prove that we were capable,” Christian-Macfarlane said. “When you have the strength to take a team 25-16 in the first set that to play to that same level is very important. It’s a catch 22.”
With the conclusion of their eight game homestand, the Gaels will take to the road next weekend against the Western Mustangs and the Windsor Lancers.
“Being on the road against Western and Windsor, who are both very good teams, is going to be hard,” she said. “It’s going to be a test of how good we really are.”
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