The George Brown Huskies women's volleyball team (8-2) defeated the Seneca Sting (6-4) in a five-set thriller Wednesday evening (Jan 11) as the teams faced off at Seneca College in the Huskies' first game back since the holiday break.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Both teams played one another in their final game before the holiday break with the Huskies coming out on top. The Sting were looking to avenge that loss, but George Brown had other plans.
In the 1st set the Huskies jumped out to an early 7-1 lead, thanks to the incredible serving of Taylor Grant (1st Year). George Brown controlled most of the opening set, in dominating fashion and managed to control their errors to just three while Seneca had eight. The Huskies would go on to take the 1st set by a score of 25-17.
In the 2nd set, both sides were unrelenting in their attack and saw the Sting close the set with 12 kills, while the Huskies could only muster seven. Seneca would go on to take the set by a score of 25-20 and tie the match at one apiece.
The Sting would keep the momentum going into the action-packed 3rd set. Both sides would again exchange points in a flurry of action. Despite the Huskies fighting back when down a point, the Sting would dig deep and take the set 25-20 to take a 2-1 advantage heading into the fourth set.
In what could only be described as a "thrilling action-packed" 4th set, both teams would treat the capacity crowd to nail-biting action. As soon as one side would take a one- or two-point lead, the other side would dig deep and fight back to tie or take a slight lead. With the scoreboard showing 25-24 in favour of the home side, the Huskies would call a timeout to slow the pace of play and regain their focus. Exiting the timeout, Huskies coaching staff were reminding the Pack that all they needed was one point and the team rallied together to tie the set at 25-25. With Seneca serving, George Brown's libero Ashley Lau (4th Year) would receive the serve passing it to OCAA assists per set leader, Brianne Lee (1st Year) who made a seamless pass to Grant for the kill attempt. The Sting would manage to dig it up giving the Huskies a free ball where the trio of Lau, Lee and Grant would score the go ahead point for George Brown. With the Huskies leading by one, Grant would step up to serve. The Sting received Grant's floater allowing the home side to get in position to launch an attack, but the Huskies were ready for it. George Brown veteran, Crystal Nguyen (3rd Year) timed a CL Viloria (Seneca) kill attempt perfectly as the Huskies went on to win the set 27-25 and send the match to a fifth and deciding set.
In the 5th set, both sides would once again exchange points with the Huskies holding a slight edge as the teams switched sides. The home side would eventually run out of steam as George Brown would go on to take the set by a score of 15-11 and go on to win the match 3-2.
Head Coach Daphne Choi (6th Season) knew that the holiday break could have caused the team to lose focus, "coming back from the holidays we were trying to ensure we kept the momentum we ended the first half of the season with." She continued, "took all five sets in order to do that, but I think the team showed real perseverance in the face of adversity when it really mattered. This was an important win for us, and we will celebrate it that way."
UP NEXT: The Huskies will travel to North Bay, Ontario to play rivals, the Canadore Panthers (8-2). The Huskies defeated the Panthers 3-2 back on November 26 in a five-set showdown. First serve is scheduled for 1 pm on Saturday January 14. Can't make it person, catch all the live action on our Huskies Livestream Channel!