By: Matt Penstone
The Thunder women’s volleyball team started their season with a victory over the Fleming Knights Nov. 2 but were unable to come through with a win against the Trent Excalibur in their next match.
The Thunder were victorious against the Knights, winning three sets to one, but suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Trent University Nov 3.
“We seemed nervous,” said head coach Everton Senior. “We played like a team that was nervous.”
The season opener against Fleming showed both teams were out-of-form as serving errors and missed setups plagued both teams. Despite these errors, the Thunder were the clear cut superior team.
“[Fleming] had about three points a set.” said Senior. “We kept them in the match with errors on our end but we were able to pull it out.”
While Fleming managed to score a few points per set, the majority of their points came from Thunder errors.
The Thunder’s standout player during this match was first-year Middle Alix Burkart who received high praise from the coaching staff for her level of play.
Third-year middle for the Thunder, Breann Wheeler, was pleased with the team’s effort in their first game.
“Our goal was to push ourselves to communicate with one another in order to do well,” she said. “Going into our first match against Fleming we were very confident that we would come out with a win.”
The second match of the weekend came on Nov. 3 as the Thunder travelled to Trent University to take on the Excalibur.
According to Senior, the team’s level of play was much higher during this game compared to the match against Fleming.
The Excalibur proved to be a much greater challenge, though, and despite the strong play from the Thunder, they were unable to secure a victory.
He noted the team’s passing wasn’t as strong as it could have been and that a few errors on their end cost the team the match.
Every set in this match was a back-and-forth battle and, despite the loss, the Thunder made the Excalibur battle for every set. One set even finished with a 27-25 score.
“Both teams came ready to compete,” said Wheeler, who led the team in scoring in the match. “Although we didn’t come out with a win, we still felt as if we did. Our team fought hard and worked well together.”
Following the opening weekend the Thunder sit mid-table in the OCAA East Division. The Thunder continue their season on the road before having their home opener against Durham College on Nov. 16.