By JEFF BOMBEN
A few spikes away from victory, the lady Condors showed lots of determination but let one slip away during a thrilling five set loss to Mohawk College.
The Conestoga College women’s volleyball team hosted their home opener on Nov. 16 as they played the Mohawk Mountaineers. Conestoga lost the five-set match, 21 to 25, 25 to 12, 18 to 25, 27 to 25 and finally 18 to 20.
First-year head coach, Marek Gwozdz said after the game, “It’s a heart-breaking loss. Everyone thought we had it but I guess we didn’t come through at the end. I think what really let us down was the execution in the critical moments.”
After winning the second set, Conestoga couldn’t keep the momentum as the Mountaineers took control of the third set and looked determined to win the match.
But the Condors dug deep in the fourth set to extend the match to a fifth set.
The thrilling fourth set included continuous lead changes, lots of timeouts and multiple rallies. The Condors fought their way through the set and came out on top 27-25, after winning the final three points.
With the support of the spectators during the fifth and final set, Conestoga looked determined to steal the match away from the Mountaineers.
The Condors started slow and it looked like it was going to be a quick set. However, they rallied and continued their strong play by taking a brief lead but couldn’t hold on.
Conestoga excelled at their defensive game but, according to coach Gwozdz, it’s still something that they need to work on and it’s something that the team will continue to practise moving forward.
The Condors struggled to put the Mountaineers away, Gwozdz said. Their attacks were considered weak and the players didn’t score allowing the other team to run their offence more effectively. “In the end that’s what caused us to lose in the fifth set,” he said.
The soft-spoken coach was confident that his team will be able turn it around for the next match.
“This is the difference between two points; one team has to lose, and one team will win. It’s a hard loss but we will definitely be back against this team and I think we can beat them. Too bad we didn’t do it in the home opener but we will not let that happen again,” he said.
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