TORONTO – The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s volleyball team rebounded on Saturday night, defeating the McMaster Marauders 3-2.The Bold (6-6) are still in firm contention for the final playoff spot after splitting the weekend series against McMaster (6-8).
“Honestly, not a lot (was different tonight),” said head coach Niko Rukavina. “I told the guys, take what we learned from yesterday and ‘level it up’ a bit.”
Safe to say they did. But not immediately.
The first set was a continuation of last night’s contest. Similarly to all three sets on Friday, the Bold were competitive throughout but were unable to overcome several early attacking errors and defensive miscues. The Marauders waltzed to a 25-19 set victory, putting the Bold in a familiar predicament.
“My frustration at the start was just us not following the plan at the start and letting us some easy points get away,” said Rukavina. “And when they have a player like Max (Graton) on their team, it’s hard to give them some points.”
The Bold began the second set hot, quickly racing out to a 9-5 lead before a Marauders timeout. Despite the attempt to curb Bold momentum, TMU continued to exert control over the set. Riley Donovan, quietly one of TMU’s top attackers, racked up a team-leading six second set kills, helping the Bold to a 25-18 set victory.
“After the first set it was ‘this is our gym, this is our home court, we’re in control.'”
Behind a similarly raucous crowd to last night, the Bold again took a lead as the third set got under way. The Bold lead never grew beyond five, but each play made by the Bold was seemingly more impressive than the last. Yet the Marauders kept pace, eventually taking back the lead as the set reached its conclusion.
In spite of the setback, the Bold eventually pulled out a 25-23 set victory, putting them just one set away from a season-defining win over the defending OUA champions.
The potential closing set began well for the Bold, as they won the initial race to eight points. However their momentum, which had been building since the second set, quickly cooled. The Marauders captured the lead, at 14-12, before running to a 25-22 set win.
The tie-breaking fifth set lived up to the hype of the previous four. The teams were barely separated when they switched sides, the Bold holding a slight 8-5 margin. The Marauders quickly leveled the gap, bringing the teams all even at 11. Two hours of volleyball had turned it into a race to four points.
The Bold struck first, with an Alex King kill. Then Taylor Wenzel with an incredible point-scoring play from his setter position. Then a
McMaster attacking error. One point away.
Then unceremoniously, following a Bold service error, McMaster committed another attacking error when they looked poised to equalize. It gave the Bold their 15th point in the decisive set, and with it, an increasingly important win in the OUA playoff race.
“The crowd was awesome,” concluded Rukavina. “Fifth sets at home, we have the advantage, and confidence, and it’s gratitude of the opportunity that we get to play on home court.”
The Bold are back in action on Friday, January 24th to take on the Guelph Gryphons. First serve flies from the Mattamy Athletic Centre at 8 p.m. Students receive free entry with their OneCard, while all home games can be streamed on OUA.tv.
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