Huskies respond to head coach’s hope for renewed inspiration

George Brown women’s volleyball gave a lesson in expecting the unexpected on Wednesday, winning three straight sets to defeat the Fleming Knights.

Playing on the road in Peterborough, the game was a rematch of 2016’s final tilt, in which George Brown fell 3-2 at home. The first set saw Fleming take a 25-23 win, although it was hardly a pretty sight for either side. Come the second set, the Knights were the ones to take advantage of the reset, displaying improved net presence and second effort. Together with a messy, error-filled affair by George Brown, the home side took a 25-14 second set victory and 2-0 lead overall.

Throughout the season, the Huskies have struggled to overcome adversity. Considering how horrendous the second set looked, George Brown looked dead in the water.

Cue the Huskies bucking their previous trend.

George Brown seemed determined to make a game of it in the third set, with a scrappy effort which resulted in a 27-25 victory. The fourth set went on to show they were just getting started. Led by an inspired performance from middle Julia Vit, the Huskies charged ahead to a 25-13 win, before completing the comeback with a decisive 15-9 fifth set victory.

“George Brown kept scrambling, kept playing good defence,” said Knights head coach Samantha Belsey. “They kept up the ball pursuit, and we kind of laid of the gas a little bit. We got a little timid in our play, and they just went out and kept doing what they were doing”.

According to both Vit and Huskies head coach Dana Cooke, success came when the team executed their game plan of keeping Fleming’s middles out of the match. After hoping to see “renewed inspiration” from her squad at the end of 2016,  Cooke viewed the victory as turning a corner.

“The girls work hard and I think that’s a good indicator, especially to win a five-set match after being down two,” said Cooke. “It’s a good indicator of where our commitment is, and I do think that it’s been a little bit refreshed.”

With the regular season back in full swing, and a match against undefeated Durham (10-0) on Saturday, it can be easy to focus on wins and losses. For Huskies outside hitter Kelsey-Jane Lamprecht, to do this would be placing emphasis in the wrong spot.

“It’s not really about the win, it’s more about the effort we put into the game,” said Lamprecht. “The winning is a result of our performance, winning is the result of what we do on the court. As long as we go in with a positive attitude and we give it all we got, I think we can do really well.”