TMU Bold Winter Preview

All six TMU Bold varsity teams return to action this weekend to kick off their winter semesters and hit resume on the pursuit of their respective U SPORTS National Championships. 

The fall semester already filled the Bold carousel with storylines that have come to define the state of each team as they emerge from the holiday break eager to build from what was. 

Here’s a recap of the events that led each squad to this point and what to expect as the dash for the postseason begins!

TMU Bold Men’s Basketball (8-2-0)
Next Game: Saturday, Jan. 11 vs. Carleton (8 p.m)

Just about everything went right for the Bold in the fall semester. The group got off to their best start under head coach David DeAveiro and now roll into January holding back-to-back spots in the top-five of the national rankings. 

Javier Gilgeous-Glasgow has come as advertised since signing with the Bold this past summer, averaging 12.4 points per game while becoming a hearty secondary scorer to Aaron Rhooms, who leads the Bold at 18.5 ppg.

The biggest strength for the Bold however, lies in their defense. On average, the group surrendered 64.2 points to their opposition last semester, the best average in the OUA and included holding the Waterloo Warriors to a season-worst 35 points in a November game at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. 

Only time will tell if the holiday break came at the worst time for the high-flying Bold who appear primed for a postseason run. The road ahead won’t be easy however, with six of TMU’s remaining 12 opponents starting the new semester off in the top-10 of the U SPORTS National Rankings. 

TMU Bold Women’s Basketball (7-3-0)
Next Game: Saturday, Jan. 11 vs. Carleton (6 p.m)

The Bold wrapped up their fall only a couple feet short of exiting their semester in pandemonium as Callie Wright’s last-gasp shot attempt failed to deliver what would have been a buzzer-beating upset over the No. 1 ranked team in the country, the Ottawa Gee-Gees. 

Instead, Carly Clarke‘s side settled for a one-possession loss, their second of the season that if it weren’t for a couple of late bounces the other way, may have the 10th-ranked Bold in the upper half of the nation’s national picture. 

Yes, it’s a step back from the program’s undefeated fall semester in 2023–what wouldn’t be– but the Bold have seen progress from all areas of the court with their 7-3 record. 

Fifth-year guard Kaille Hall continued to stir the drink of TMU’s offense prior to the holiday break, averaging 14.9 points per game while second-year Catrina Garvey continued the form she set in her Rookie of The Year campaign in 2023-24. 

Just a year removed from breaking the program’s single-season rebound record (248), sophomore forward Hailey Franco-DeRyck rolls into January averaging 6.0 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, embodying the two-way threat Clarke hoped to see from her first-year forward in 2023. 

The Bold and their personnel took promising steps in the fall semester that are only going to continue throughout their playoff push in 2025. Nine of TMU’s remaining games will be against divisional opponents this winter. Taking care of business in more than half of them should help the group claim the top spot in the OUA Central and a higher seed in the league’s playoffs in February. 

TMU Bold Men’s Hockey (9-9-0)
Next Game: Friday, Jan. 10 vs. Brock (6:15 p.m)

Despite starting the year with five losses in their first six games, Johnny Duco‘s side head into the winter semester with a 9-9 record that screams fresh start for a team just a point out from pacing the Western Conference. 

Hallmark wins against the UQTR Patriotes–who took down the Bold in double overtime of last year’s league final–and the rivaled Brock Badgers helped turn TMU’s semester around and give the group a motivating set of results to rally around. 

It is also promising to see the Bold offense take the ‘scoring by committee’ approach into the new year that has brought balance throughout their top-six forwards. Defenceman Jaden Condotta has impressively carried the team’s offense on the backend this season, leading all defenders with 14 points while forwards Daniil Grigorev and Connor Bowie pace the team with 17 and 16 respectively. 

The challenge for the Bold in their new semester lies in its start. Games against rivals Brock and UofT open up the winter frame and have the potential to be an uphill battle for the Bold with Duco, Bowie and starting netminder Kai Edmonds all unavailable while competing at the FISU Games in Italy. 

The blue and gold have already seen the effects a slow start can have on their season and will be motivated to keep a feat like that in 2024. 

TMU Bold Women’s Hockey (5-9-0)
Next Game: Friday, Jan. 10 vs. Carleton (7 p.m)

Despite the 5-9-0 record, the Bold entered the winter break with a lot of progress to carry into what is shaping up to be yet another down-to-the-wire playoff push for the program in 2025. 

Four of the team’s five wins this season, including an upset over the nationally-ranked Guelph Gryphons in November, saw the Bold pull ahead by a single goal and showcase the team’s ability to come out on top in close games. That will come in handy throughout the remainder of 2025 that will require the Bold to come away with more points than their chasers in the OUA East. 

Captain Emily Baxter led the offense in the fall with eight points while Kayla Kondo trails not very far behind with six to her name. Already a career high, the sophomore forward has turned heads this season and has become a steady source of offense for the playoff-craving Bold. 

Head coach Lisa Haley will look to capitalize on the breakthrough of her young forward for the remainder of the season, a campaign that will spend the majority of its time away from the MAC. 

Eight of TMU’s remaining 12 contests will be played on the road this winter, including pivotal division matchups against Queen’s, UofT and Carleton, the latter of which set to open up 2025 on Friday at 7 p.m. 

TMU Bold Men’s Volleyball (4-4-0)
Next Game: Friday, Jan. 10 vs. Western (8 p.m)

It was their home series with Trent in early November that saw the Bold piece together their best showing of the semester and demolish their opponent with back-to-back wins. 

Unfortunately, those two games were the only home outings of the semester for the Bold and a team that has a knack for leaving it all out when the gym is most familiar. 

That won’t be the case for the squad come the winter semester with eight home matches set to kick off before the end of the season, serving as a point of excitement in emphasis as the team closes in on resume their campaign. 

Niko Rukavina‘s side have shown they have all the makings internally to win out in the majority of their home matches this semester. Jacob Walker has been a resurgence since returning to TMU, averaging 3.38 kills per set that ranks him fifth in the league in that category. 

Kai Higuchi is also coming off a strong semester that saw him pace the OUA in service aces per set (0.52) and maintain the Bold as a threat from the baseline. A resurgence from outside hitter Alex King this winter has the makings of shifting the goalposts on TMU’s campaign and providing the Bold with the flanked one-two punch of Walker-King that blitzed the OUA for over 450 kills last season. 

It’s all about finding some momentum for the Bold, who enter the new semester in sixth place. 

Four of the group’s remaining six weekend series’ will place the Bold against opponents below them in the standings, aligning together an opportunistic schedule that can seriously distance the group from their chasers in their pursuit of home court advantage in the postseason–something that has eluded the program since 2019. 

TMU Bold Women’s Volleyball (3-5-0)
Next Game: Friday, Jan. 10 vs. Western (6 p.m)

If there’s one thing the Bold know how to do really well, it’s showing up at the right time. 

It’s what earned them a home playoff game last season after finishing the fall semester 5-3, and what led to head coach Dustin Reid‘s incomparable sneaker game to be on the court for ten wins during last year’s authoritative winter semester. 

The Bold know how to win in bulk, and they got both the starpower and depth to do it again in 2025. 

Hannah Bellai and Jasmine Safar were integral to TMU’s attack in the fall semester. The two former Varsity Blues appeared to feel right at home in their debuts east of University Avenue, with Bellai leading the Bold with 2.79 kills per set and Safar leading with 8.43 assists per set through eight matches.  

Rookies Ayla Cross and Julia Breen also left a memorable first impression in their first semesters with the Bold, leading all eight first-years in kills (29) and hitting percentage (.228) respectively.  

Much to the delight of Reid, the young core in which he stocked his team with this past offseason is showing their ability to make a serious impact with the team as early as January. 

In balancing player development and championship desires, Reid and the Bold might soon find they are able to accomplish both this winter if their talent begins to yield more winning results. 

Although the program will need to show out in big weekend series against Waterloo, McMaster and Western to have a serious shot at nailing down the latter of their ambitions.