THUNDER BAY -- Lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice.
Two years ago the Lakehead Thunderwolves scored their biggest win in program history, shocking the then No. 4 Ottawa Gee Gees while sparking an unlikely playoff run.
Looking for a boost this season, Lakehead on Sunday afternoon again hosted Ottawa but there was no upset to be had this time around, as the Thunderwolves fell in straight sets (25-15, 25-16, 25-18) at the Thunderdome.
The No. 10 Gee Gees (10-3) played a near perfect game, finishing the contest with 34 kills and only four attacking errors.
Lakehead head coach Chris Green said his squad gave that potent Ottawa attack too many “free bullets” at times and weren’t able to apply as much pressure as desired.
“We gave them way too many free balls. We sent at least eight to 10 free balls over,” Green said.
“You can’t go to war against a team that has a tank and throw pebbles. It doesn’t work and the girls got that message (Sunday).”
In contrast Lakehead finished the contest with 27 kills but recorded 15 attacking errors.
Ottawa had a balanced attack with four different players notching at least five kills, with Kaly Soro leading the way with 10. Setter Kira Tome dished out 26 assists.
Lakehead was led by fourth-year Winnipeg native Jennifer Casey and her 10 kills, though she also sprayed five errors. Setter Vanessa Masters finished with 22 assists.
For the second straight game Lakehead fell behind quickly, dropping the first set as they tried to weather the Ottawa offence.
The Thunderwolves started stronger in the second set and only trailed 10-7 before Ottawa won four of the next five points to expand the lead.
The Gee Gees carried a 16-10 edge into the technical timeout and eventually closed out the set with three straight points.
Lakehead started out stronger in the third set, opening an early lead before the teams exchanged mini-runs. They were tied 10-10 after the first 20 points.
The Gee Gees gradually inched ahead, going up 19-13 to get in sight of the finish line.
Time and time again Ottawa was able to find open areas on the floor to put away their hits, while their court coverage on defence returned a number of Lakehead spikes.
That’s where experience came into play, Green said.
“Our younger players have to learn how to read the hitters’ chests,” he said. “A lot of those balls that dropped were simple reads that young players don’t know yet. Older players will see and make the move to get the dig.”
With the lead cut to four, Ottawa went on to win the next four straight points to put themselves on the brink of closing it out.
Despite the loss Green was much more pleased with their play than what was shown in the Saturday defeat.
However, with only seven games remaining on the schedule while sitting 2.5 games out of a playoff spot he knows things have to improve in a hurry.
“We had a long discussion and really had to dig deep mentally and physically about what we were going to do because we weren’t satisfied (after Saturday’s game against Ryerson),” Green said.
“The girls responded and that’s what we have to do for the next seven games.”
Lakehead hits the road next weekend to take on the Nipissing Lakers (4-8) and York Lions (7-5) each for one game.
