By Nicholas van der Ham

The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s volleyball team fell in five sets to the Lakehead University Thunderwolves on Saturday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).

The result follows last night’s straight-sets 3-0 defeat, which marked the Bold’s first loss to the Thunderwolves during the regular season in 14 years.

“I think that we have some girls that are doing a great job of owning their role […] We just need to be able to do it over a lengthier period of time,” said acting head coach Julie Gordon.

The opening frame began evenly after an early service ace from fourth-year outside hitter Marta Cerovic and kills from first-year outside hitter Makenna Williams. But the Thunderwolves soon fired their offence, opening up an early 12-7 lead as Lakehead’s third-year middle Reegan Aitken and third-year opposite Sylvie LeMoine sank kills of their own. 

Halfway through the frame, a brief stoppage allowed TMU to return to the court with clear heads as they whittled down the gap until both sides were separated by just one point, 22-21. 

“I think that the volley gods were on our side at that point,” said Gordon. “It was a nice stoppage for us. It allowed us to have some lengthier conversations and just give the girls some opportunity to reset.”

Though Lakehead soon earned a set point minutes later, Cerovic battered it away with a clutch kill. Two attacking errors from Lakehead’s second-year outside hitter Lucy Mullan meant the Bold secured their first set lead of the weekend, 27-25.

“Our team working together allowed me to do my thing,” said Cerovic, who achieved a career high of 22 kills throughout the match. “I think usually I’m one to just hit the ball hard, but I think today really forced me to work [different] shots.”

After an early TMU lead in the next frame, Cerovic sank a dagger at 13-8 that ricocheted off a Lakehead player. Fueling her side, the Bold won the next point in a nearly 30-second, end-to-end court battle that Williams capped with a clever sideline kill.

Despite a Lakehead timeout at 20-13, the Bold refused to squander their advantage. Third-year outside hitter Rian Lenarduzzi stepped up, sinking her first kill of the match and ending the set, 25-20. 

In the next set, the Bold rallied efficiently, but Lakehead refused to be hit off the court. Going down to the wire, the difference ultimately came at the hands of an untimely attacking error from third-year libero Livia Davenport at 22-24, which granted Lakehead two set points. Unable to steady the ship, TMU couldn’t beat Lakehead’s first-year middle, Marleigh Woloshyn, who sealed the frame 25-23 with her ninth kill of the afternoon.

The fourth set quickly got away from the Bold after attacking errors began piling up. As Lakehead pulled away halfway through the contest, Cerovic dove into the backcourt trying to chase down a Thunderwolf ball that sailed toward the glass wall. To no avail, though, TMU couldn’t compensate for the deficit, conceding their two-set lead 25-19. 

Though by the end of the frame, the Bold led in offence, posting 48 kills to Lakehead’s 46 and logging 157 kills to their opponent’s 150, they continued to struggle in execution, committing 28 attacking errors, five more than the Thunderwolves.

In the final set, Lakehead saw blood in the water. Third-year outside hitter Lola Milohnic smashed four kills in the first nine points of the set, helping her team to a 7-2 lead. Protecting their gap, a kill by Woloshyn sealed the five-set comeback for the Thunderwolves.

“Obviously we want to win on the scoreboard, but if we felt like we did our game and we won in the things we were looking at as a win, then we’re good,” said Cerovic.

UP NEXT: TMU will take on the Royal Military College Paladins on Nov. 6 at the Kingston Military Community Sports Centre. First serve flies at 6 p.m.