Resilient Badgers earn comeback victory in five-set thriller, advance to semifinals

It was a case of bending but not breaking in the playoffs for the No. 7 nationally ranked Brock Badgers women’s volleyball team. 

The No. 2 seed Badgers rallied in its Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarterfinal matchup to advance past the No. 7 seed Nipissing Lakers, besting the visitors by a score of 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-13, 17-15) on Friday, Feb. 21 at Bob Davis Gymnasium.  

Fourth-year outside hitter Laurin Ainsworth was the Badgers’ top performer, posting 15.5 points in the victory off 14 kills, one service ace and a block assist in the win. 

“I feel like at that point in the game, you’re putting everything out there,” Ainsworth said. “You’re fully trusting your team because if you don’t have that trust and give up, things aren’t going to go your way—you have to keep pushing.” 

Back-to-back kills in the opening set from Nipissing’s Paige Owen expanded the visitors lead up to 18-11.  

A string of kills from Sadie Dick and Emily Foest helped the Badgers close the gap down to just a single point late in the set. However, the Lakers put together their own run after that to take set one 25-20.  

To open the second set, both sides traded points before consecutive kills from Daryan Chadwick, who totalled three kills in the set, gave Brock a 12-9 lead.  

Fending off the Lakers from gaining any momentum, two kills from Dick and a kill from Emma Baruchelli put the Badgers on the brink of second set win at 24-22. Seconds later, an attacking error from Nipissing sealed the set to tie things at one apiece.  

In the second frame, the Badgers hitting percentage of .281 bested the Lakers’ .259.  

Starting off with some momentum, the Badgers grabbed a 9-3 lead early in the third set.  

Midway through the frame, the Lakers crawled back to find themselves up 21-17 after a service ace from Oceane Raymond-Leduc. Brock fought back late in the set but Nipissing ultimately took set three by a score of 25-22.  

After Nipissing held the lead early in the fourth set, a perfectly-placed serve from Ainsworth put Brock up 12-11.  

In the dying moments of the set, the Lakers found themselves with the lead again, but a vital block from Dick and Charlotte Ross put the Badgers up 23-22. Brock’s late-set efforts sent the game to a fifth set, winning set four 25-23.  

Nipissing made six errors in the fourth with Brock registering just three. 

With every point being so crucial in the fifth set, both sides traded points before a run from Nipissing put them up 14-11. A clutch kill from Madison Chimienti followed by a service ace from Ross were crucial in changing the momentum late in the contest.  

To seal the victory and send the Badgers to the next round, a powerful spike from Chimienti was too much for the Lakers’ blockers as it dropped to the floor and gave Brock a 17-15 set win. 

Chimienti, operating at times as a libero in the game, led Brock with 10 digs while second-year setter Mackenna Knox notched 46 assists.

Brock’s overall hitting percentage of .240 edged out Nipissing’s percentage of .238, showcasing how close the match was.

Looking towards the Badgers semifinal matchup, Ainsworth commented on the team’s mindset ahead of next week. 

“As a team, we’re all kind of pushing on perfecting small things and controlling what we can,” she said. “We’re finishing things up on the school side and then practicing, perfecting what we can so that when the big moments do come, we know how to handle them.”

Next up, the Brock Badgers women’s volleyball team hosts the sixth seed Windsor Lancers in an OUA semifinal matchup on Friday, Feb. 28 at Bob Davis Gymnasium, with the match starting at 6 p.m. You can secure your tickets at https://brocku.universitytickets.com starting on Monday, Feb. 24 at 10 a.m. or catch the action on OUA.tv.