October 17, 2005

The 05-06 Gees finish off the pre-season and look ready for league play
starting Oct 22nd vs East Division opponent Lakehead University

The 2005-06 edition of Gee-Gees Volleyball certainly promises to be an exciting one if the preseason play of this "new cycle" of players is any indication.

With this year's co-captains Manon Ouellette (# 11) and Melissa Maddocks (# 10) as the only players on the roster listed in their 4th or 5th year of eligibility, many on-lookers would expect a rebuilding year. Not so says Coach Woods, "We may appear young on the roster sheet but most of our 3rd year players have seen plenty of playing time in preparation for this year. Added to that, what makes this team unique is a core of first year players who come to us with a great deal of experience in high level volleyball from Canada Games and the Quebec Cegep system. The veterans are excited about the potential of this group to add to our success early in their careers."

It is apparent that while the names have changed the goals and expectations have remained the same for the Gees. "We run this program for the purpose of competing for an OUA Championship and a shot at the Top 4 in Canada every year. It has been a while since the OUA banner has been raised in our gym and I think the current and past players of this program are quite hungry to see that happen sooner than later. We are committed to excellence here and that is what this group is trying to bring to the table."

The 2005-06 pre season schedule was certainly designed to give the young Gees a taste of big time volleyball in Canada. With a 10 game schedule where the Gees faced CIS Top 10 teams in all but 3 of those matches you can bet the Gees will have no surprises as they get set to take on the OUA over the first 7 weeks of regular season play (before the December break).

The Gees have consistently performed well against the best in Canada during the preseason; taking sets off of Regina (# 3), Manitoba (# 10), Sherbrooke (top 10) and McGill (# 8) over the last four weeks. These performances have been noticed by the rest of the country as the Gee-Gees have been voted into the CIS Top 15 in the first two weeks of polling.
(check out this week's CIS Top 15 by clicking here)

As the Gee-Gees complete final preparations for the 2005-06 home opener - a double header vs Lakehead University at Montpetit Hall on October 21st (4:00 pm start) and 22nd (2:00 pm start) - excitement has begun to rise about the potential of this team to "get the job done" come February and the all important playoff run.

Leading the way will be a starting line up on Friday consisting of:
.... 3rd year setter - # 9 - Laura Simons
.... 5th year libero and co-captain - # 11 - Manon Ouellette
.... 4th year left side player and co-captain - # 10 - Melissa Maddocks
.... 3rd year left side player (2004-05 OUA All star) - # 5 - Christine Lamey
.... 3rd year right side player - # 1 - Rachel Runnels
.... 2nd year middle player - # 3 - Kirsten Brouse
.... 1st year middle player (2005 Canada Games - Quebec) - # 15 - Joanie Beaureguard-Veillette

Click here for information on the rest of the Gee-Gees 2005-06 roster

Once again this season, Montpetit Hall promises to be the sight of some exciting university women's volleyball. Check out the full 2005-06 Gee-Gees schedule as well as player stats and bios, team press releases and match results all year long at WWW.GGVBALL.COM or visit the official university web site at http://www.geegees.uottawa.ca.

See you at the games !