THUNDER BAY – It was a season full of frustration and missed opportunities.
The Lakehead Thunderwolves women’s volleyball team on Saturday night had a chance to take a two-set lead on the visiting Ryerson Rams, a team that sits just outside the national top 10 rankings.
Instead they ran out of gas and watched their opponent close out the regular season by capturing three straight sets, landing the Wolves in last place for the second time in three seasons.
The Rams dropped the first set 25-20, edged LU 25-23 in the second, the closed out the victory with a 25-10 win in the third and a 25-20 triumph in the decisive fourth.
It’s the story of the season, said departing outside hitter Kailan Robinson, who leaves the team after four seasons.
“It was rough. We started out so well and there was just some times when we had no focus, no motivation to just push through,” Robinson said.
“It’s rough when we have those breakdowns, but Ryerson is a good team, so it was a hard game.”
It was Robinson who used the word frustration to describe the now-completed campaign.
“There are lots of times, ifs, ands or buts when we could have done so many things. We have so much potential and it’s said that our record doesn’t show that,” she said.
The Thunderwolves finish the year at 4-15, their fewest victories since 2012-13, when they went a woeful 1-17.
Cobourg, Ont.’s Olivia Bowman also played her final game for Lakehead on Saturday night and said she’ll try to remember the good times on and off the court, rather than where they wound up in the standings the past couple of years.
“It’s one big family. We didn’t get the W, but we ended it on a positive note and we had a lot of fun. We played our hearts out and I enjoyed every second of it. It was awesome,” Bowman said.
“It was missed opportunities on some wins we could have had, especially with some times like tonight, when we played so well. It just shows how we could have done. It’s disappointing, but we had a really good year, a lot of growth and a lot of learning this year.”
For coach Green, the end of the season means looking forward to next fall, knowing he has to replace two starters and three other key contributors – Sara Potter, Rachel Moore and Christie Lowe – who won’t be back.
“We drop some experience, but we gain size. We’ve got a really good crop of young big kids coming in. So we’re going to pick up size, we’re going to pick up some new energy and we’re going to pick up kids with experience,” Green said.
“Now we’ve got to train them to replace those four or five who are graduating.”
The Rams wound up at 15-4.
