While they are comfortably in possession of the final playoff spot, the women’s volleyball team has
some work to do if they want to prove they can compete with the top half of their division.
After a stinging loss to the Western Mustangs last Saturday, the team entered what is arguably
the easiest part of its schedule with a four-set win over the Windsor Lancers.
Head coach Chris Galbraith said quality of the Western squad shook the women so they didn’t play to the best of their ability. “The score was not indicative of how we have been playing,” he said. “However it was indicative of how we played that day.”
Based on their recent results, Galbraith said he was expecting a stronger showing. “I certainly would have hoped we had been more competitive.” The Gaels were dominated from the first serve, losing by scores of 25-11, 25-11 and 25-20. Galbraith said the team’s ing was weak, and as a result, setter Jenna Willis was scrambling for most of the match. “All of that just boils down to that first ,” he said. “The offence never got going.” The next day’s match against Windsor was a huge turnaround
but not an unexpected one. “Windsor went about how we xpected it would go. Maybe even better than we expected.” Galbraith said the difference had a lot to do with the calibre of the players across the net.
“I think the quality of the opponent was much lower and that allowed us to be in our comfort zone.”
He said the team has lived up to expectations at this point in the year.
“We’ve won all the games we were supposed to win.”
He said they’ve also shown they can hold their own against some of the province’s mid-ranked teams.
“We’ve managed to win against teams where you’d think we weren’t supposed to win.” Galbraith said confidence in playing high-ranked teams is an on-going issue for the team but it’s not something he will be addressing seriously before the end of the season.
“It’s not an immediate concern for me.” With three games remaining, the team is focused on finishing the season on a high note. Queen’s is currently sitting in the fourth and final playoff spot, four points ahead of the fifth-place Ryerson but 14 points behind third-place York.
Since the team will likely face the powerhouse University of Toronto in the first round of the playoffs, it’s impossible to look past the first game.
The team will play a double-header against sixth-place Lakehead University at home in
Bartlett tonight and tomorrow. They will play Ryerson next week. Both teams are ranked lower than Queen’s.
Though moving up in the standings is impossible at this point, two wins this weekend will prevent anyone from challenging them for that final playoff spot. “Right now our job is to keep them behind in the standings.”
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