Weekend of Wins for the Thunderwolves
After more than a year away from the Lakehead, the Thunderwolves Athletics pack returned with a dominating howl.
Women’s Volleyball
Interim head coach Brett Hagarty capped the weekend with another sweep, taking seven of eight total sets against the visiting Providence University College Pilots.
“It was so nice to be able to play in the Thunderdome,” Hagarty said. “Our team was so excited to play at home and it was a good experience to get the nerves out and play in front of the fans again.”
Lakehead won the games by a combined 37 points, with Hagarty spreading opportunities across her bench.
“We have a pretty young squad this year, and this was the first time playing at home for a lot of us,” Hagarty said.
The home team was paced by veterans Virginie Franks, Rebekah Hara, and Hannah Shortreed. Franks punctuated the squad’s offensive efforts with a number of booming hits facilitated by Shortreed’s precision setting, and Hara steadied the defensive efforts from the libero position.
“I thought we did a really good job at managing the speed of Providences outside attack and made adjustments where necessary,” Hagarty said. We passed really well on Saturday night, and we continued that into Sunday afternoon. We were able to take control of the match with our tough serving on Sunday.”
“We really relied on the leadership of Shortreed, Franks, Hara and Megan Nahachewsk) to keep the court calm and make big plays when we needed them,” Hagarty added. “Some of our second year players—such as Hannah Ginger—have really impacted our line up and have been able to find ways to score and bring fresh energy to the floor.”
“We look forward to starting our regular season at home and will use the momentum and learning opportunities from this weekend to help us prepare,” Hagarty concluded. “This weekend was a great end to our preseason.”
The women’s volleyball will host the McMaster Marauders on Friday, November 5th and Saturday November 6th to open OUA play.
Written by: Esa Keltamaki