By Naomi Low

The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) women’s volleyball team fell 3-2 to the three-time East Division champions of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association, the Seneca Polytechnic Sting, on Friday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. 

Though the Bold capped off their 2025-26 regular season with an emphatic straight-sets victory over the Royal Military College Paladins, they narrowly missed the Ontario University Athletics playoffs by one spot. 

Looking to build off the learnings of last season, head coach Julie Gordon had positive takeaways despite the tight loss.

“A lot of the things we’ve been working on in practice showed up today on the court. We wanted to use this as a bit of an evaluation to see if the things we’re training are working, and we believe that it is.”

In the first set, the Bold jumped out to an early 7-3 lead, but Seneca’s strong serving began to chip away at the advantage. With the Sting beginning to pull away at 12-9, Gordon called the first timeout of the night. Returning from the brief stoppage, the Bold proceeded to go on a three-point run to even the score. 

Strong serving and kills from fourth-year outside hitters Tyra Krapp and Marta Cerovic helped TMU regain momentum and take their first lead of the night at 18-17.

Despite showing signs of fight, the Bold could not hold off the Sting later in the frame, as Seneca took the opening set 25-22. 

“We were expecting [Seneca’s] level, which is why we wanted to scrimmage against them. They’re a great team…they have some really talented athletes,” said Gordon. 

The Bold again fell behind early in the second set, trailing 10-5. Following another timeout, TMU began to steadily close the gap. Strong defensive play from third-year outside hitter Rian Lenarduzzi and key blocks from second-year setter Sadie Bird helped the Bold regain momentum and eventually take their first lead of the set. 

Seneca called a timeout with TMU ahead 23-21, but the Bold held strong. A final Sting attack error handed TMU the second set 25-22, evening the match. 

To begin the third set, first-year outside hitters Makenna Williams, Mia Causevic, and Qadira Shakespeare logged their first playing minutes with the team.

Though they made an impact offensively, Seneca began to target the Bold’s back corners, quickly turning their deficit into a 20-18 lead. 

“It’s just a different pace of play compared to what they’re used to,” said Gordon. 

“Which is why we wanted to get them some experience so they’re not shocked once our regular season comes around.”

Strong blocking kept the Bold within striking distance before they locked the set at 22-22. Trading points deep into the set, third-year middle Rayanna Amos-Ross Fisher and Lenarduzzi provided clutch blocks to keep TMU alive as Williams sank another kill at 28-27. 

After much prolonged back-and-forth, a Seneca miscommunication on the final point handed TMU the third set, 30-28. 

But Seneca’s intensity did not stall. Immediately, they opened the fourth frame with a 6-2 lead to put the Bold on the back foot. 

Cerovic helped TMU with a sharp sideline kill before consolidating it with another in the middle of the court to tie the score 7-7. However, the Bold struggled to keep much more of a foothold in the match as Seneca regained their offence, pulling away 25-17. 

The fifth set closely mirrored the fourth, with the Bold trailing early once again. After falling behind 13-5, TMU could not shake their serving errors when it mattered most as they dropped the deciding set 15-7. 

UP NEXT: The Bold will head to Hamilton to participate in the McMaster Thanksgiving Classic from Oct. 8 to 10.