RECAP: Carabins attack pulls away at home opener

The Gee-Gees women's volleyball team opened regular season play with a first set win in front of an appreciative home crowd but were unable to push through the pressure applied by the Montreal Carabins late in the second set. That set win carried the Carabins to a 3-1 match victory (25-20, 23-25, 14-25, 18-25).

Six straight points coming out of the technical timeout in the first set allowed Ottawa a 20-16 lead. Montreal clawed back to within one at 21-20 before the Gee-Gees finished off the set with an ace for Caroline Lemay. Lemay led Ottawa with 12 points in the match. 

The second set also featured a six-point run for the Garnet and Grey midway through, however Montreal countered with a run of five points to go from down 21-19 to up 23-21. A pair of kills from the Carabins finished the set after the teams were knotted at 23-23. The Gee-Gees blockers were particularly effective in the first two sets, earning four points in each set as a team. On the night, Dana Bulloch collected six assisted blocks and 1 solo block to lead Ottawa.

In the third set Montreal was efficient with its attack, landing 14 kills at a 32 per cent rate. Many of them came early in the set as the Carabins carried the momentum out of the second frame and took a 14-4 lead.

After falling behind 4-0, Ottawa rallied in the fourth set and made a run of five points which included two kills from Lemay. However, attack errors started to pile up and the Carabins pulled away.

The Gee-Gees continue the first weekend of the regular season with another home game on Sunday. The match against the McGill Martlets begins at 2 p.m. at Montpetit Hall.