Women’s volleyball ends on a high note

It wasn’t the traditional way to do it, but the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks finished their 2010-11 season with a pair of wins over the weekend. After a back and forth 3-2 win over York on Friday night and a win as a result of a Ryerson forfeit, the Hawks won their final two games of the regular season, however their 8-11 left leaves them short of the playoffs.

“I was really pleased with what ended up being our last match of the season,” said Laurier head coach Luke Snider of Friday’s win over York. “It was a bit up and down and as always you can look back and see that there were certain situations where we could’ve done better, but when it got tough and we needed to win points, we won points and that was great to see.”

Any momentum the Hawks may have built after Friday’s win was quickly let down as a few hours before game time the team was notified that the Ryerson Rams had to forfeit Saturday’s regular season finale.

“[Ryerson] played at the University of Waterloo [on Friday] and had a couple serious injuries on top of an already pretty depleted lineup, they simply did not have enough players to play,” said Snider. “It’s unfortunate, neither side wanted this to happen but in the interest of the student athletes’ long-term health and safety it was the decision that had to be made.”

Left without an opponent for Saturday’s match, the Hawks concluded their season with an intra-squad scrimmage and a default victory.

In a way, Saturday’s free win provided an unfit ending to a season in which nothing has come easy for the purple and gold. After opening the year with five straight losses and finishing the first half with a 1-6 record, the Hawks worked their way back in 2011. Laurier went 7-5 in second semester, winning six of their final eight matches.

“What we were able to accomplish after the growing pains we went through at the beginning of the year was just incredible,” said Snider. “I’m very much looking forward to starting next season hopefully where we left off this season.”

As Snider and the majority of his roster looks ahead to next season three Hawks played their last minutes of volleyball at Laurier on Saturday afternoon. Fifth-year Victoria Cowley, as well as fourth-years Tesca Andrew-Wasylik and Megan Gilmore will all be graduating this year, and according to Snider all three have left their marks on Laurier women’s volleyball.

“We’re graduating three great players,” he said. “They’ll certainly be missed and it remains to be seen who will fill those roles and play those minutes.”

With this season now behind them, the Hawks turn their sights to 2011-12, and returning to the playoffs after what is now a three-year absence.