February 20th, 2005

Gee-Gees fight hard but lose 3-0 against the
Toronto Varsity Blues in the OUA Quarter FInal

The Gees showed up ready to play but came up short in the OUA quarter final match up at the University of Toronto on Friday night. The Varsity Blues won 3-0 (25-15, 26-24, 25-17) for the third straight quarter final win over the Gees in as many seasons. The "turning point" in the match seemed to come when the Gees were up 24-21 in the second set, only to see the Blues run off 5 straight points to grab the come from behind win and go up 2-0 in the match. Undaunted, the Gees played tough volleyball again until the score was knotted at 11-11 in the third; but again, the Blues pulled away with a string of unanswered points to close the door on the Gees' OUA Championship bid for 2004-05.

Coach Woods was proud of the team after the match saying that, "Our players showed up trying to focus on the one thing you can control; your attitude and preparation to play tough. In that regard we were successful. These kids can be proud of the way they went after this, I know I am proud of them. What ultimately seemed to hurt us was a string of errors on our side at key moments of each set, and you know what - that can come back to my responsibility to prepare them better for the pressure cooker of a match like this. It was never the same thing but at this level you must stop your run of errors at 1 or 2 if you are going to remain competitve.This year's team has nothing to hang their heads about. It was a great run of a year with some great performances along the way."

The 2004-05 season was one of the more consistent years for team & individual performance.
.... The Gees were ranked in the Top 10 and Top 15 of Canada for 8 of the 14 weeks of rankings
.... The Gees finished with a record of 22-17 overall - the first 22 win season in 7 years
.... The Gees posted impressive wins against nationally recognized, McGill & Manitoba
.... The Gees placed multiple players in the top 10's of conference & national statistics categories

The Gees head to the off season with a thank you to veteran 4th and 5th year players #12 Ellen Barwise, #8 Nancy Coelho, #4 Ashley Keenan & #11 Manon Ouellette. Next year's squad could see Nancy, Ashley & Manon consider a 5th year eligibility (Ellen has played out her 5 year's) but regardless, all four players have set a standard of play and commitment for future Gees to carry on with pride.

The 2004-05 Gees want to thank all of the home town supporters, alumni & family who have come out to games and sent encouraging e-mails and messages this season. Our family of supporters in the envy of the league and we will never take that for granted - THANKS !