By Finn Noel
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s volleyball team fell to the York Lions in a five-set thriller in the second match of a double-header on Saturday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
The Bold took Friday’s game in convincing fashion with a 3-1 victory. In the last game of the regular season, the Lions fought back to finish the Bold’s season with a loss.
It was senior night for the Bold, and seven players took the court at the MAC for the last time in their careers.
Bold interim head coach Julie Gordon wanted to make sure the graduating seniors got the final home game that they deserved.
“We really just wanted to make that the focus, making sure that our graduating players felt honoured,” said Gordon. “While also, of course, trying to get the [win].”
Fourth-year outside hitters Jia Lonardi, Kylie Ferguson, Scarlett Gingera and Tyra Krapp, as well as fourth-year libero Mary Rioflorido, redshirt setter Sarah Zonneveld and graduate setter Jasmine Safar all received flowers and applause from the home crowd to celebrate their careers with the team.
The senior players started the game off hot, taking a 5-2 lead early in the first set. The Lions would storm back with a run of their own. After two consecutive service aces by third-year Lions outside hitter Julia Typa, the score favoured the Lions 7-6.
The first set would continue to be a back-and-forth battle between the teams, as each time called a timeout and proceeded to take the lead afterwards.
After an attacking error from fourth-year Lions middle blocker Amarai Endes, the Bold took the set home 25-23.
The Lions weren’t going to go down without a fight, though, and stormed to a 10-1 lead to start the second set. TMU was forced to call two early timeouts.
Coming out of the second timeout, the Bold pulled themselves together to close the gap to a four-point difference. The Lions called a timeout to recoup.
After the quick break, the Lions held their point differential for the rest of the second set, cruising into a 25-21 win to tie the set score at one apiece.
Fourth-year Lions libero Brooklyn Parliament and Gingera traded impressive kills to start a game of back-and-forth in the third set.
York found a groove late in the set with a 8-2 run, led by a commanding attacking performance by second-year outside hitter Victoria Herrington. She finished the game with 15 kills, and leads the team in total kills this season with 165.
Despite a Bold timeout aiming to stop the Lions’ momentum, York finished the job and took the third set 25-21. Just one set away from losing the game, the Bold found themselves on the ropes.
Fortune continued to favour York. The Lions found themselves yet again with a three-point lead after first-year middle blocker Quinn McTavish blocked Gingera’s attacking attempt to make it 9-6 early in the fourth and final set.
Gingera, despite the block, led the Bold in kills. The Calgary product finished the game with 19 kills with a 40 per cent efficiency.
Down by three, a Lions run forced the Bold to call for a timeout. TMU brought themselves back into the game following the break. During the run, Rioflorido achieved the milestone of 1000 career digs—joining Julie Longman, who played from 2013 to 2018, as the second player in Bold history to reach that accomplishment.
Another graduating senior who had some special moments in this game was Zonneveld. She suited up for the first time this season, after suffering osteochondritis desiccants—a joint condition in which bone underneath the cartilage of a joint dies due to lack of blood flow—in her femur and knee since last year.
Zonneveld made an impact on multiple plays during the fourth set, and was a big part of the Bold’s run. After sitting out for such a long time, she felt overwhelmed to be on the court again.
“It felt like a flashback of my whole career,” she said. “Getting back out there, I was emotional.”
Zonneveld finishes her career with the Bold as the third all-time leader in assists, and the 18th all-time leader in digs. Her return to the court for the final time got the crowd at the MAC cheering, and gave her team some moral momentum.
“I will not be here next year,” Zonneveled said as she looked ahead to her future. “I don’t think I’d ever be able to play at [university] level again.”
The Bold let that momentum carry them and took home the set 25-21. Second-year outside hitter Kaiya Krahn’s aggressive attacking helped lead the way. Krahn finished the game with eight kills.
Krahn’s momentum would only carry the Bold so far, though, as the Lions got back down to business in the fifth and final set. They maintained their lead, and an impressive kill from Typa ended the set at 15-12 for the Lions.
Although the loss was a tough one for the Bold to swallow, Gordon felt that the emphasis of the game wasn’t on winning.
“It’s about the girls,” said Gordon. “Especially on senior night.”
This was Gordon’s first game stepping in as head coach for the team, as Bold head coach Dustin Reid was absent due to personal reasons according to Gordon.
She felt the pressure in her new role, especially on such an important night for the graduating players.
“It was a new type of challenge today,” she said with a grin. “I’m looking forward to having [Reid] back.”
Gordon won’t have to step in for Reid anymore this season, though. This season series with the Lions marks the end of the team’s regular season. Their 4-16 record won’t get them into the playoffs, so this game was the last for TMU Bold women’s volleyball this year.
With seven players graduating and only Krapp looking to come back next year according to Gordon, the Bold’s roster will likely have a brand new look for next season.
“Next year we’ll have a fairly young team,” said Gordon. “I’m excited for the next chapter.”
UP NEXT: TMU looks to the off-season to fill the gaps of the graduating players.
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