TORONTO — Under the lights of the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) and the sounds of their annual Block Party, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s volleyball team, despite a strong second-set performance, fell 3-1 (25-22, 29-31, 27-25, 25-20) against the Brock Badgers.
Brock was an unfamiliar challenge as these teams have not faced off since the 2023-2024 season.
“I feel like there was some nerves and some anxiety, but I think we settled in really well,” said Head Coach Niko Rukavina. “We didn’t have [a lot] of film on [Brock]. So now that we have the full four sets, we should have a better plan tomorrow.”
The Badgers started the race to three sets with a commanding 6-0 lead, forcing Rukavina to call the first timeout of the regular-season. After a few reminders in the huddle, Rukavina’s squad settled in. Outsider hitter Riley Donovan got things started for TMU with an emphatic kill from the left side. Teammate Ross Buchanan followed that up with a kill of his own from the opposite side of the court.
A string of service errors by the Badgers side allowed the Bold to remain within striking distance. By the end of the opening set, Brock had already recorded five errors before the ball was put into play.
The Bold were powered by an outstanding performance by Brayden Walker, who produced the home team’s first block of the night, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Walker finished the first set with a team-leading six kills and seven points.
TMU clawed its way back to cut the deficit to one point (14-13), which left the Brock coaching staff with no choice but to call a timeout of their own. With the set hanging in the balance at 24-22 in favour of Brock, Walker had a rare miscue and hit the net on his serve, halting TMU’s momentum.
With a clean slate, both teams entertained the lively crowd at the MAC in the second set. TMU and Brock were deadlocked at 14-14 before Walker made the opposition pay for a misplaced serve, giving his team the one-point advantage. Moments later, Buchanan’s electric attack from the middle position extended TMU’s lead to its largest of the night up to that point at 19-15.
Brock responded with a string of kills, erasing the Bold’s lead at 19-19. TMU took the moment to retreat to a timeout. After the pause in play, both sides of the net traded points ten times. The Bold’s relentless block and capitalizing on errors allowed them to edge out the Badgers at 31-29.
Set two saw the Bold’s best hitting percentage of the night, where they hit .311 with 21 kills on 45 attempts.
TMU kept its momentum going into the fourth set, eager to even the score. They came out for the first two points, including another kill from Walker. Brock shot back with two points of its own (4-4). Both teams fought point for point to be the first to reach the ten-point mark.
Brock began to pull ahead, using TMU attack errors to its advantage (9-5). Thanks to the heckling from the crowd, Brock gave up a service error, which opened the door TMU (9-6). Brock’s service line struggled throughout the contest, with 21 service errors recorded.
The Bold used the error to gain a rhythm. Donovan tooled the block, while Declan Dunn and Aidan Suttie followed for a stuff block of their own to erase their deficit (11-10).
The front line continued to dominate, putting together another three points to force a Brock timeout.
For the second set in a row, the score would reach over 25 points to decide a winner. Set points were traded until one final kill from Brock’s outside called set three at 27-25.
“That third set there, I think we kind of left it on the table, but a lot of good playing experience for sure,” said Rukavina.
The Bold returned for set four. After the third set victory, the momentum was in Brock’s favour. The Badgers started to pull ahead after the first ten points (12-9), where they benefited from the Bold’s attack errors and their offensive strength.
TMU adjusted its block to shut down a Brock attack as Buchanan and Zack Firkins combined for a double block (13-11). Another TMU service error and attack error resulted in the first timeout of the set. This would prove to be a strategic decision by Rukavina.
“Timeouts are usually when I need to slow down the other team,” said Rukavina. “If they’re on a service run or something like that, or if I feel like I need a tactical thing for our team.”
Brock’s Devin Cooney returned to the service line and was effectively iced, sending the ball into the net.
Despite gaining points on the Badgers, the Bold’s chances of forcing a fifth set started to slip. Brock held a sizable six-point lead (20-14) and it repeatedly caught TMU off the net.
The Bold continued the uphill climb and middle Suttie hung in the air and slammed a ball down into Brock’s pot. TMU managed to break the 20-point threshold, but unfortunately were not able to catch Brock, dropping the final set 25-20.
The Bold return on Halloween for another test against the Badgers at the MAC. First serve is scheduled for 3:30 pm EST and students can attend for FREE with their One Card.