By Victoria Cha
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s volleyball team tamed the York Lions in a clean 3-0 sweep at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Friday night.
On their special Valentine’s Day-themed Ontario Volleyball Association Day, both the men’s and women’s teams invited players of the association to fill the stands. With a packed court and a loud crowd, the Bold dismantled the ninth-nationally ranked Lions who held a five-game win streak.
“The energy here was great. The more energy, the better. We get a big point, a big play and the crowd gets livid. It’s awesome to have this noise in the atmosphere,” said third-year outside hitter Riley Donovan.
As soon as the game started, the Bold instantly showed their dominance. A strong kill from fourth-year outside hitter Jacob Walker sent the ball into open space and set the match into motion.
“Our focus this week was just playing good volleyball, not thinking about playoffs or standings too much,” said Bold head coach Niko Rukavina. “But I thought that was one of the best games we played all year, so I’m really impressed with the guys.”
A series of service mistakes and disorganized defending from the Lions had the Bold capitalizing on plays from both sides. It was the luck of a net violation from TMU that pushed the Lions out of their den and onto the scoreboard.
With a colossal block from graduate right side Alex King to first-year Lions outside hitter Chris Hoffman, the Bold took a 4-1 lead early into the first set.
Offence and defence—sharp for TMU and dull for York—clashed and fed the Bold’s momentum further.
An extended rally saw the best of the Lions’ control of their court. Third-year middle blocker Dennis Cota and third-year outside hitter Alex Ko put up confident blocks and fourth-year outside hitter Nathan Luken kept the back court free of the ball’s contact. Their efforts weren’t enough to strike back, however, as a hit by Donovan had a worn-out Luken passing the ball into open space, and Ko too slow to meet it in time.
“We spent a lot of time on our game plan. Following that, we did really well today. Everyone knew their roles and responsibilities and executed in that aspect,” said Donovan. “York played well but I feel like we just had the better day.”
Amidst TMU’s continuous run to set point, the Lions would score occasional points, taking advantage of failed blocks and service errors by the Bold. A final hit by second-year setter Evan Moua and a mispass by Luken brought TMU to a 25-18 victory in the first set.
The Lions seemed to capture more prowess in their plays, going into the second set. With a constant stream of back-to-back points, the match was even throughout. When TMU did gain a three or four-point lead, the Lions would execute offensive maneuvers—highlighted by dumps from fourth-year setter Jasraj Nijjar—that would tie the score once again.
Another long rally unveiled more of the Bold’s defensive prowess, which had a moment where Walker, to save a mispass, raced outside of the court to keep the ball from landing. Ending in the Bold’s favour yet again, a frustrated York head coach Jordan Taylor received a yellow card for disagreeing with the referee’s call.
Right after that exchange, Donovan blocked Ko’s shot straight back down, adding another kitten to his litter.
At 20-17, the Lions were pressured to retreat to their den with a timeout, planning to regroup and retaliate.
Retreating only seemed to make the Lions more timid, as failed receives and blocks weakened their defence, handing the Bold another win at 25-21.
“The second set was important for us because we did have a lull at the start, where we weren’t playing our best,” said Rukavina. “We turned that lull around really fast, and [King] was awesome at the service line.”
The third set revealed another gradual rise to success for the Bold. With their energy just as high as the start of the match, they showed their opponents that they weren’t planning on cowering.
While the Lions put up a fight, their passes went flying out of bounds and quickly to the ground one too many times. They failed to equalize the Bold who offered a fierceness that was just too great.
Neither of their two timeouts could bring out the ferocity that the Lions needed. A block by Walker counteracted a hit by Cota, ending the set at 25-15. TMU was left with a three-set conquest over York.
“I think we did a really good job getting touches on York’s hits, defending and then serving really well,” said Rukavina. “Our offence is always clicking because we have [Walker] and [King] on the court, but our block-defence looked really good today.”
UP NEXT: The Bold will try to dominate the Lions at the MAC once more and honour its senior players for their final game of the regular season on Feb. 15. First-serve flies at 3 p.m.
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