The energy just wasn’t there in Round 2, says Lakehead volleyball’s Kailan Robinson, after the Thunderwolves dropped a second straight match to the visiting Western Mustangs.
It’s more than a little disappointing, she added, given the night before the underdog Wolves (5-9) forced a fifth set the night before in a thrilling finale that went down to the wire, the Mustangs pulling it out 15-13 to capture the match.
It certainly wasn’t the way Robinson and her teammates wanted to close out the weekend, looking to collect a few more wins to have a chance at a postseason berth.
“You could just tell and even the fans could tell,” the Manitoba native said. “Last night was a fun game to watch. There was energy. People were ready to play and tonight we were just kind of flat. There wasn’t a lot of team energy.”
Still, they can take a few lessons from the loss to Western (10-2), the No. 2 team in the OUA West, half a game behind front-running McMaster.
And they could be crucial down the stretch, Robinson said.
“I think with how close we were last night, we know that we’re in this,” she said. “We have a chance. That’s a top team in our conference. We can actually make playoffs if we try hard and play with the right energy and follow our game plan.”
The Mustangs, who sit just outside the national top 10 rankings with the 13th most points collected in the weekly poll, started strong against the Thunderwolves on Saturday.
The rolled out to a quick 7-1 lead in the opening set and went on to take it 25-15. It was more of the same in the second set, allowing one fewer point to Lakehead in a 25-14 win that put the Thunderwolves in a quick hole, despite home-court advantage at the Thunderdome.
The final set proved to be much more competitive, Lakehead scoring four straight points to go up 11-8. The Mustangs rallied and the two sides traded points back and forth, Lakehead eventually jumping out in front 22-19.
But it wasn’t meant to be, the Wolves dropping a 25-23 decision to cede the sweep to the Mustangs.
“I guess that’s part of youth,” Lakehead coach Chris Green said. “When you’re playing a team that’s 9-2 how do you put the energy together two nights in a row? I think they were a little bit heartbroken after yesterday. But that’s something that again, they’ve got to learn to handle. They’ve got to learn to handle a close game. That means you’re in it.
“So the next day, let’s just do things a little bit better. They’ve got to figure that part out. It was a frustrating weekend.”
Still, he added, the Wolves do have two weeks to prepare for their next action, a three-game weekend trip to Toronto, McMaster and Ryerson.
There are wins to be had, but his players need to make fewer mistakes, Green said.
“How close are we? We’re as close as we can physically match up at the net. And if you can’t, then you’ve got to do a lot of things well.”
Kelsey Veltman led the Mustangs with 14.5 points, while Serena Smith had 11.5 and a pair of digs. Robinson had 12 points to lead the Thunderwolves.
