By Mohamed Ali

The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s volleyball team closed out its regular season with a 3-1 win over the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins on Seniors Night at the Mattamy Athletic Center (MAC) on Saturday. 

The Bold honoured their seniors, fourth-year middle Bobby Tang and fourth-year right side Gavin Elzinga, prior to the start, celebrating both their Academic and Athletic time with the Bold. 

TMU honoured the night with a resilient showing, bouncing back after dropping the third set that should have secured them the win.

The opening frame was close the whole way through, with RMC building an early lead as TMU struggled with attacking and service errors.

Fourth-year outside hitter Riley Donovan helped keep the Bold in it early with four kills, while Tang contributed at the net to help TMU claw back from a six-point deficit—something he has done throughout his Bold career.

“Bobby is the hardest working person I’ve ever seen,” said Elzinga. “He’s the Kobe of our team.”

TMU took their first lead at 22-21 and closed out the set 26-24 capitalizing off of defensive mistakes from the Paladins.

Set two saw the Bold find their rhythm offensively. First-year outside hitter William Gimbert came up strong with some key plays, leading the Bold to a 4-1 run within the frame that forced an RMC timeout. 

Although the Paladins tried their best to chip away to lead, back-to-back late kills from Donvan and an important block from first-year middle Aidan Suttie stopped their momentum. Elzinga sealed the set with an ace, giving TMU a 2-0 advantage entering the third.

RMC bounced back in the set as they showed their most complete offensive showing of the night. Led by RMC’s second-year hitter Carter Liu who finished with a team high 15 kills.

The Paladins jumped out to an early 7-2 lead and never lifted their foot off the gas despite  a massive kill from Gimbert—one of his 15 in the match—to lock the set at 15-15. A late scoring surge by the Paladins saw them closing out the frame 25-21 to force a fourth period.

Following this setback, head coach Niko Rukavina said the focus for the team heading on in the fourth was composure.

“We lost a bit of focus in the third set,” Rukavina said. “Getting back to what we were doing well and staying focused on the task at helped us handle the fourth really well.” 

The Bold responded early, catapulting to an early 9-4 lead behind strong blocking and efficient attacking. Tang and Gimbert anchored the Bold’s front line as TMU held RMC to a .080 hitting percentage in the final set. Donovan finished the night with a massive kill, securing the win 25-13 and a gentleman sweep.

For Tang, the win was a fitting end to his final home match.

“It really made me feel all that appreciation and love for all the work I’ve put into the program,” Tang said. “I’ve learned how to be a leader, how to be a teammate, and those are lifelong lessons I’ll carry with me.”

With the regular season complete, Rukavina said the program is already looking ahead.

“It’s more about the growth throughout the season,” he said. “I’m excited about the future of this group.”