By Dexter LeRuez
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s volleyball team took down the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues in four sets at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Saturday.
Saturday’s victory was the first time the Bold defeated the Varsity Blues since 2019 and the Bold’s first home win against U of T in six years—long before the current crop of TMU players arrived to the program.
“I honestly can’t even describe it,” said TMU fourth-year Lhexen Rabit. “It’s what we’ve been wanting the whole season. It’s also kind of our revenge with U of T after the playoff game last year.”
Saturday couldn’t have been a better day for the Bold to beat their cross-town rivals. TMU pulled out both bleachers at the MAC as fans packed in to watch the Battle of Toronto.
Middle Alex King would receive most of the adoration during Saturday’s game, with a small but passionate cheering section dedicated to the third-year player.
“Best [crowd] by far,” said King after the game. “This is the first time I’ve ever played with both bleachers out, and it really added a dynamic that really lit a fire under all of us.”
Against the hostile crowd, U of T looked to maintain their dominance in the rivalry during the first set, launching a barrage of attacks that the Bold were unable to contain.
The focal point of the Varsity Blues’ attack was fourth-year Evan Falardeau, who led U of T with seven kills as they cruised to a 25-21 first-set win.
“They played really well in the first set to be honest,” said Bold interim head coach Niko Rukavina. “I don’t think they made one error which is tough, especially when a team comes into another team’s gym; you expect a little bit of errors.”
However, in set two, the Varsity Blues’ weapons fell quiet. After hitting 60 per cent as a team in set one, U of T had nine attack errors and a mere six kills in the second set for a -.129 hitting percentage.
Following the second set, U of T’s hitting woke up in set three. However, TMU’s offence reached new heights as the Bold took a high-intensity third set 25-20 to maintain the momentum and put the Bold within one set of a victory six years in the making.
Finally, the Bold cruised to victory in the fourth and final set with the momentum they gained in set three, boasting a 44.8 per cent hitting percentage to win 25-18.
The Bold’s win over U of T wasn’t the only significant event years in the making. TMU also hosted Pride night on Saturday.
“I have also been planning this for almost a year now,” said Rabit, who is also the team captain. “We’ve been planning this since summer and it’s just really cool to have everybody, women and men, wear our Pride t-shirts and wear it with pride.”
But on the same night as TMU players wore Pride-themed warm-up gear, three Bold men’s players opted not to participate. Instead, they wore plain back t-shirts without the Pride-branded TMU Bold logo.
“Obviously a little disappointing,” said Rukavina. “Especially because we wanted to support our brotherhood out there and support the community. But I’m never gonna force an athlete to do something against his beliefs, and we made sure everybody on the team was on board with it, and everybody supported each other.”
“We’ve been that way all through the season,” he added. “It doesn’t matter, different beliefs, different thoughts, about anything and we still stay focused on staying together as a brotherhood. So yes, a little disappointed, but I think we were successful.”
Despite a small percentage of the team holding out on the Pride night festivities, those who participated in Saturday’s initiative saw it as a success on and off the court.
“I really hope this initiative goes on forever honestly,” said Rabit. “I’m really proud of everybody coming in and showing their own pride as well and not just my pride.”
“I just can’t describe how proud I am of my teammates.”
UP NEXT: TMU looks to avenge their recent loss to the University of Waterloo Warriors. The match kicks off at 7 p.m. at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on Feb. 10.
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