THUNDER BAY -- After a rough first half of the season the Lakehead Thunderwolves were hoping to turn things around in the New Year.
If a turnaround does happen it won’t start with their first regular season game of 2015.
The Thunderwolves (2-9) returned to the Thunderdome court on Saturday, though it was much briefer than they were looking for after being swept by the Ryerson Rams in straight sets (25-19, 25-14, 25-23) in a little more than one hour.
Returning to game action against a team that’s second in the OUA East with a 9-2 record and is hovering just outside the national top 10 rankings wasn’t going to be the easiest task.
They still expected to put up more of a fight.
“I think we played like we were on break,” fifth-year hitter Jennifer Casey said. “I think we should have been working a little harder to make sure we were ready to go.”
The Rams, which finished with 31 kills and 13 attacking errors, played a cleaner and more aggressive match than the Thunderwolves who lagged behind in both categories with only 25 kills and 21 errors.
Rams hitter Veronica Livingston recorded a game-high 10 kills while setter Emily Betteridge was the match's leading distributer with 26 assists. Casey led the Thunderwolves with nine kills, though she had 12 errors, while setter Vanessa Masters recorded 20 assists.
Lakehead head coach Chris Green saw glimpses of potential from his squad, though he was disappointed with their performance.
It takes a complete effort from start to finish to take even one set against such a strong opponent.
“We did well in spurts but we didn’t do well all the way through and that’s frustrating,” he said. “It’s not what we wanted or expected.”
The Rams jumped on Lakehead in the first set, taking an early lead and gradually expanding it to draw first blood without feeling any pressure.
Ryerson carried the momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 7-0 lead before the Thunderwolves had their first opportunity to serve the ball.
That big deficit took Lakehead right out of the set, putting their backs against the wall in a hurry.
The Thunderwolves initially responded well in the third, taking an early 8-6 edge after a brilliant lunging put away into the open court by Kailin Robinson.
Ryerson, looking to close out the match quickly, hung around and carried a 16-15 lead into the technical timeout. They went ahead 20-18 before Lakehead rallied late to go up 21-20.
That’s where the match unraveled, as the Thunderwolves lost composure and court positioning fell apart. Ryerson won five of the next seven points to extinguish any home team comeback hopes.
Green said it’s apparent in those key moments that the shadows of past stars Jorie Daymond and Vanessa Chorkawy still hang over the current group.
“We have a bunch of players who don’t know what it is to be leaders on the court. They’re so used to being the backups and I don’t think they put that together and figure out how to be on the floor as a leader as the person to go,” Green said.
“As soon as that uniform is on and it’s official that trepidation or ‘I was a backup and now I’m a starter’ mentality seems to be stepping in with a little bit of concern or fear. They’re good athletes but we have to figure out how to break that.”
Things won’t get any easier for Lakehead on Sunday as they host the No. 10 Ottawa Gee Gees (9-3). The Thunderwolves are currently 2.5 games out of the final playoff spot in the OUA West with nine games remaining.
That game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. at the Thunderdome.
