By Kaden Nanji
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s volleyball team fell to the University of Waterloo Warriors in a five-set thriller at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Feb. 10.
Coming off a huge win against the fourth seed in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, the Bold were looking to carry the momentum into Friday’s game against the Warriors.
Tensions ran high as both teams battled it out for a potential pivotal playoff position. After going set-for-set in a battle that mimicked a playoff matchup, the Warriors’ stellar defence proved to be too much for the Bold.
“I don’t think we came out hungry enough. Knowing that we are in a playoff push, I didn’t see that intensity and fire at the start,” said Bold interim head coach Niko Rukavina.
The Warriors started the match energetically, kicking the first set off with a series of dominant kills. The Bold never backed down, doing everything necessary to keep the ball in play.
After tying the set at 5-5, the Warriors went on a 5-0 run to extend their lead to five points. The rest of the set consisted of a slew of elongated rallies, with the Warriors always maintaining a lead. After bringing the match to 21-20, a handful of attack errors by the Bold resulted in the Warriors winning the first set 25-22.
TMU started the second set with a newfound mentality, spearheaded by third-year middle Alex King. His encouragement seemed to reach the rest of the team as the Bold came out looking more aggressive in every part of the game.
King continued to produce high-level offence and defence, finishing the night with a game-high 24 kills and four blocks. Ultimately, the Bold ran away with the second set, 25-16.
“I had to remind them that they are the best players in the gym,” said King. “That’s how you get the confidence to win.”
The Bold seemed to carry on the energy of the previous set, starting the third with a 3-0 lead. However, four-straight service and attack errors by the Bold put the game back in the Warriors’ hands.
Midway through the third set, the Bold put on outside hitter, Lucas Yang, who ignited a spark within the team as he immediately racked up two kills. Nevertheless, the Bold were never able to recover from the Warriors incessant attack, as they fell 25-22 in the third set.
The same energy from the second set seemed to translate into the Bold’s early fourth set performance, after some dynamic kills by outside hitter, Jacob Walker.
TMU shined on the defensive end with Walker and King getting back-to-back big blocks against the Warriors, who looked drained. The set continued with King running all around the court, going in for kills, landing a service ace and coming up with two more huge blocks in the third set.
King finished off the set with an emphatic kill to come out of the set with the 25-16 win, tying the game at two sets a piece.
“I think we need to block well for us to be successful and it’s also the second level of defence that benefits when we are stable with our blocking,” said Rukavina.
King continued his stellar play with two kills to start the deciding fifth set as the game’s momentum swung back in favour of the Bold. However, after a timeout by the Warriors, they answered back with four straight kills.
Both teams put their bodies on the line, smashing into the scorers’ table and running all over the gym just to keep the ball alive. The Bold had 23 attacking attempts against the Warriors 18 attempts, with many of the attempts unable to translate to points due to the Warriors’ efficient defence.
Finishing off the game with a tremendous defensive performance, the Warriors held on for a huge win, winning the set 14-12 and the game 3-2.
The Bold will look to finish off their season against two nationally-ranked opponents in the No. 6 Windsor Lancers and the undefeated No. 2 ranked McMaster Marauders, who are also two of the top teams in the OUA conference.
“We are going to come up with a good game plan, we are going to have to come out really aggressive in our serving and attack,” said Rukavina.
UP NEXT: The Bold head to Windsor Sunday Feb. 12 for the second last game of their regular season. First-serve is set for 4 p.m.
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