NORTH BAY, Ont. – The rollercoaster 2024-25 season continued for the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s volleyball team on Friday night, as they fell in four sets to the Nipissing Lakers. The Bold (6-9) now find themselves in the final playoff spot after dropping their last three contests, all in heartbreaking fashion.
It was a tough start for the Bold, who found themselves down early in the first set. The Nipissing blockers were the difference in the opening stages. The Bold, who have struggled with mental errors at times this season, played sound volleyball in the first set. The Lakers were just a little bit sharper. Blocks were timed better. Attacks found their way through more often. As a result Nipissing captured the first set 25-16, finishing on a 5-2 run.
The second set did little to turn the Bold’s fortunes. The Lakers raced quickly to an 8-1 lead, blitzing the Bold with a continuation of their dominant hitting attack. The lead swelled to nine before the Bold stopped the bleeding, but by then it was too late to save the set. The Lakers cruised to a 25-18 set victory, and took a 2-0 stranglehold on the contest.
The third set began much more competitively. Despite the deficit, the Bold managed to mount a resurgence. Jacob Walker, who led the Bold with 13 kills on the evening, helped the Bold keep level with the Lakers through the sets’ first dozen points before TMU claimed a slight lead. The resilience would pay off for TMU, as they nurtured the lead into a 25-20 set win, giving life to a desperate Bold side.
Now TMU had all the momentum. After racing to a 5-1 lead, the Bold forced an early Nipissing timeout to open the fourth set. Seemingly each time the Bold attackers went up, they scored points. TMU’s lead grew to eight before Nipissing could mount a counter. Then the mental errors started for the Bold and quickly Nippissing turned an eight point deficit into a two point advantage. Suddenly facing a 24-22 match point chance, Alex King extended the game with a clutch kill, but the collapse was complete and it was too little too late. Nipissing took the match with one final kill of their own, finishing out the match in four sets with a 25-23 victory.
The Bold are back in action tomorrow afternoon, facing the Lakers in a pivotal rematch for their playoff chances. First serve flies at 4 p.m. Stream the game on OUA.tv.
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