Welcome To The University of Ottawa Women's Volleyball Team's Web-Page

October 18th, 2004
IN THE LOOP UPDATE - GEE-GEES WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Hi again everyone - two weeks ago many of you received our opening IN THE LOOP UPDATE on Gee-Gees Women's Volleyball. I want to thank all the alumni and supporters for your kind responses and friendly feedback. It is great to know that the info going out is getting read and enjoyed. At any time, if you have suggestions on the type of information that you would like to receive in these updates (or would like to stop receiving) please let us know so we can tailor these updates to our audience.
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In this edition:
** Gees hit the CIS Coaches' Poll Top 15 in the first rankings of the year
** McGill Tournament summary
** Pre season wrap thoughts - Gees get ready for home opener
** Home opener information
** Group ticket & promo ticket package info
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Top 15 ranking early in the 2004-05 season
As the results for the first weekly CIS (Canadian) Top 15 Coaches' Poll came out at the end of last week, our "new look" Gees seem to have raised a few eyebrows with the two pre season bronze medal finishes. We received enough votes to grab an 11-15 ranking in the poll that will see many changes in the early part of the season.

CIS Top15 Rankings
(as of October 14th, 2004)
1. Alberta
2. UBC (tied)
2. Calgary (tied)
4. Montreal
5. Toronto
6. Winnipeg
7. Regina
8. Laval
9. Sherbrooke
10. Manitoba

Honorable mention (11-15)
OTTAWA
Western
Simon Fraser
McGill
St.Mary's
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McGill Tournament summary:
.... so we headed off to the McGill Tournament for our final prep and fine tuning before league matches take over our weekly focus starting on October 23rd. This tournament traditionally has most of the Quebec conference and some highly ranked teams in attendance but this year was exceptionally strong with 5 of the 8 teams coming from Canada's Top 15.

.....we arrived on Friday with only 10 players in tow as the rest of our team was to catch up to us after classes ended on Friday night. The schedule was not in our favour as we faced #4 ranked Montreal and #9 ranked Sherbrooke on the first day of competition while still missing two of our starting line up (libero- Manon Ouellette & middle player- Chloe St. Denis).

.... although our play was marked by some great defensive effort and we held our own against both teams, we came up short on day one with two losses, which relegated us to the Consolation side of the draw. I must say though, our team took full advantage of what was left of the weekend and won 3 straight, en route to a consolation championship and a 5th place finish overall for the tournament.

.... other good news for the weekend was that we got to play 5 different teams including two Ontario West Division opponents, Waterloo & McMaster. Both of whom we were able to knock off in 4 sets with some consistent performances from all.

..... during the weekend, "Player of the Game" awards were given out. 5th year setter, Ellen Barwise was recognized with two player of the game awards while 2nd year wing player, Christine Lamey; 2nd year middle player, Chloe St. Denis; and 3rd year wing player, Melissa Maddocks were also recognized with one award each.
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Pre season wrap up thoughts:
* We leave the two month pre season with an 8-7 record, with all our losses coming at the hands of other Top 15 ranked schools - not bad for a team that graduated 7 of its vets from the 2003-2004 season !

* We got to see teams from all 4 conferences from across the country - Canada West, Ontario, Quebec & Atlantic - that means some of the best variety of preparation in years for the team. There will be no size, speed or style of play that we encounter this year that we haven't already seen.

* While expectations are slowly creeping up for this "new look" squad, the excitement seems to be high as well. You can feel the readiness of this team to head into league play knowing that a run at the Ontario conference title is with in reach. This is a focused group of athletes who really seem to enjoy competition, they have left every tournament with their best performance in their last match - they seem to thrive on it when "it counts".

.............. this team is ready for the real stuff, and they are fun to watch !
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HOME OPENER INFO

Gee-Gees vs Brock Badgers
Saturday October 23rd - 2004
2:00 pm start time

Regular game day tickets:
$6.00 for adults
$3.00 for students & seniors
$30.00 for a season pass

Group Promo tickets:
Groups of 8 or more can request special $5.00 promo tickets that get you a free piece of pizza and pop with your game day ticket - group tickets must be reserved ahead of time by calling Lionel Woods at 562-5800 x4348 or e-mail: lwoods@uottawa.ca

For a full list of our home and away schedule and other team news and info please visit our team web site at: WWW.GGVBALL.COM

Hope to see you at the game !

Thanks for your support !

Lionel Woods
& The 2004-05 Gee-Gees Volleyball Team