Road trip an opportunity to bounceback following 3-2 loss to Canadore

George Brown’s men’s volleyball team (3-2) will look to return from their annual Ottawa road trip firmly above .500, after falling 3-2 to the Canadore Panthers on Nov. 13.

The Huskies paid for their slow start, as Canadore won both the first and second set. Despite this, one could see signs of a George Brown awakening as the game progressed, and by the third set the home side was ready to go. A decisive 25-16 victory resulted, followed by a tight 28-26 fourth set win.

But playing behind the eight ball takes a toll. After their furious comeback to even up the match, George Brown seemed to run out of steam, and Canadore took the fifth and final set 15-12. Huskies outside hitter D’Artaniel Jackman led all players with 21 points and 19 kills, while middle blocker Ahmed Youssef had 18 points, 13 kills and five block solos.

“We didn’t do what we normally do, and it kind of surprised us,” said Huskies outside hitter Stephen Duong. “I think it’s just fundamentals we lacked. It’s not that we don’t have it, it’s just that we didn’t perform today.”

For the Panthers, who hail from North Bay, Ontario, the win against George Brown marked the end of four games away from home. While not using it as an excuse, Canadore head coach Mark Hopper recognizes the schedule’s impact on game performance.

“It’s difficult when we’re always playing two games every weekend,” said Hopper. “We don’t play halfway through the week. We came out of the gates quick but we played yesterday, so our turnaround’s not that much, it’s less than 12 hours. They were riding adrenaline and then they got cut back a little bit”.

George Brown now faces their own away back-to-back, an overnight Ottawa road trip which sees them play the Algonquin Thunder (1-5) tonight at 8:00 p.m., followed by the La Cite Coyotes (1-5) tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. According to Huskies head coach Garrett May, this makes for a significant difference when compared to home games.

“When we go on the road, we’ve got a lot more time on the bus,” said May. “There’s lots of time to really overthink things. Trying to keep the guys light and fresh while we still prepare well for the match, it’s a little bit different when you’re on the bus for so long.”