O'Dwyer disappointed in team's effort

CALGARY, (Feb. 2, 2019) — SAIT Trojans women's volleyball head coach Art O'Dwyer did not sugar coat things Saturday night.

For the second time in as many nights, the Trojans were beaten in five sets by the Red Deer College Queens – Saturday's coming in the form of a 3-2 (25-20, 16-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-13) decision at SAIT's Campus Centre.

"(Red Deer) showed more passion than we did," said O'Dwyer in a brief post-game interview. "We were just going along waiting for something to happen. . . They wanted it more than us."

SAIT falls to 13-7 on the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) season, while the Queens move to 14-8.

After dropping the opening set, SAIT dominated the second and won the third to take a 2-1 lead in the match. However, they could not find a way to finish things off.

Red Deer took Set 4 to tie the match, and send it to a fifth.

In the final set, SAIT took control early, winning the races to five and eight points, before allowing the Queens to come back and win the match.

"I really can't give you an answer," O'Dwyer replied when asked how to coach a team out the funk they showed Saturday. "It comes from within, the team. You have to play for each other out there."

After getting swept this weekend, the road doesn't get any easier for the Trojans. Next weekend, they will head to the home of the first-place Briercrest College Clippers for a pair of games – Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

Earning a win Saturday against Red Deer would have went a long way in putting some confidence in the back pocket of the Trojans.

"It was super important for that, for placing, and for playing them in the future – that sort of stuff," O'Dwyer conceded. "All of our matches from here on out are going to be like this, so we're going to have to re-focus, step up and play."