Women’s volleyball team drops first match of the weekend to Western

Lakehead’s women’s volleyball team lost their first game of the weekend away this afternoon, dropping an early day game to the Western Mustangs in three straight sets. The Thunderwolves remain winless in a second half of this season that has seen them embark on multiple long-distance, multi-game trips. Western improves to 8-5.

“We played a good team in Western today,” Thunderwolves head coach Craig Barclay said. “They proved to outplay us in most areas of the match.”

The Mustangs were led by middle Kelsey Veltman’s 14 points, including 11 kills on 19 attempts for a kill percentage of .579. Veltman is a three-time USPORTS All-Canadian, currently 4th in the OUA in kills, 2nd in hitting percentage, 4th in total blocks, and 3rd in points.

Western won the three set 25-11, 25-14, and 25-12.

“Unfortunately, we gave them too many points in unforced errors to compete with them,” Barclay said. Lakehead finished with 44 total errors, and a team hitting percentage of -.078.

The Thunderwolves were led by Rheanna Geisel’s 9 points, including 7 kills, and Abigale Green’s 5 points, including 4 kills. First-year Thunderwolf Virginie Franks added to her collection of promising performances since the holiday break, adding 4.5 points of her own.

Lakehead gets a chance to avenge the loss tomorrow afternoon at 2pm, when they will face the Mustangs in a rematch at Alumni Hall in London.

“It will be our focus to limit our errors in preparation for tomorrow’s game,” Barclay said.