Women's volleyball: fifth place overall
Mike Kostoff

The Wilfrid Laurier University women's volleyball team traveled to Ottawa this weekend to compete in the OUA finals tournament. The women gained a berth in the finals by virtue of their fourth place finish in the OUA west division, and were matched up against York for an opening round match.

While the Hawks came up short against a extremely strong Yeowomen sqaud, they were able to score a fifth place overall via two impressive wins over powerful Guelph and McMaster teams.

"It was one of our biggest wins in team history," commented an estatic Hawks coach Russ Woloshyn, referring to the Hawks 3-0 victory over a McMaster team who has a well established tradition in the league.

The Hawks brought their 9-5 regular season record into the opening round of the tournament on Friday to battle the 11-1 Yeowomen. While Laurier was ultimately unsuccessful in their quest, dropping the match 3-1, coach Woloshyn was extremely impressed with the team's performance.

"I think we anticipated their offense extremely well," noted Woloshyn, who cited the Hawks extremely effective two man reception strategy, executed by of Stacey McCoy and Karen Galloway. This play was as a key factor behind the Hawks strength after the Christmas break.

"We stopped giving up the free points (on the serve)," added Woloshyn. This unique two man reception tactic, the only of its kind in the OUA, resulted in the Hawks giving the Yeowomen all they could handle. Nonetheless, York emerged with the hard fought 3-1 victory (15-10, 15-3, 10-15, 15-10).

The next test for the Hawks was the veteran laden Guelph Gryphon squad, the OUA West's second ranked team, with a 10-4 regular season record. The Gryphon were coming off a surprise 3-0 loss at the hands on the host Ottawa team.

"Guelph was one of the big dissapointments of the tournament," noted Woloshyn, who said that the Gryphon seemed to be somewhat in a state of shock after dropping their opening round match. Both teams dug in and battled hard, with the Hawks emerging with 3-2 winners (6-15, 15-13, 8-15, 15-12, 15-7).

"Our team battled hard and hung in all the way," noted Woloshyn, who added that this work ethic was characteristic of the teams performance in the 1998-99 season. The victory set up the fifth place battle with the McMaster Mauraders, and the Hawks delivered, posting a convincing 3-0 win (15-13, 15-6, 15-11).

With this result, the best overall finsh for the Hawks in OUA tournament history, Laurier caps off a very successful season in women's volleyball.

"The kids really gained confidence in eachother over the course of the season," noted Woloshyn, who is excited about the growing reputation that Hawk Volleyball is enjoying around the OUA. No longer are teams facing the Hawks with a 'you can't lose to them' kind of attitude.

"They went into the tournament really believeing they had a chance to win," added Woloshyn, who's team certainly proved their abilities with their OUA performance.

Icing on the cake for the Hawks came at the OUA awards banquet on the weekend when two Hawks were named to all-star teams. Stacey McCoy was named to the first team and Paula Watson to the second team. Watson finished the year ranked fifth in Canada in digs, with teamate Lisa Wallace coming in at number two.