TORONTO - The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's volleyball team defeated the Lakehead Thunderwolves 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-21) to extend their winning streak to five on Friday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. 

Sarah Zonneveld tied her season-high of 37 assists en route to the victory, meanwhile, Ashley Ditchfield and Scarlett Gingera had 11 kills each for the Bold.

TMU also dawned their new jerseys for the first time after the university's name change at the beginning of the 2022-23 season. 

"In the team room before we were all talking about it and we were like 'new year, new team.' We're representing the rebrand and we want to show that we can represent our school well," said Zonneveld on the new uniforms.

Bold assistant head coach Brett Hagarty took the reins on the bench against the Thunderwolves in place of head coach Dustin Reid, who presented her with the opportunity. 

Hagarty spent the 2021-22 season as the interim head coach for Lakehead before joining the TMU staff in the offseason. 

"He asked if I wanted to sit in that head coach chair tonight. That was really special, kind and thoughtful. I really appreciated that he trusted me to get the job done," said Hagarty on Reid giving her the chance to run the bench for the night. 

The Bold's motivation to secure the victory for Hagarty was clear from the first serve as their offence quickly found its stride. 

"Everybody on the team wanted to push to show them that she's ours," said Zonneveld. 

"We wanted to do it for her," Ditchfield added. "She gave a lot of energy to us and we wanted to give it right back."

After going on a 9-3 run to open the first set, the Bold was in control. At each stop the Thunderwolves seemed to have an answer, however, TMU kept striking to keep their lead intact and eventually closed out the frame 25-17. 

"[Zonneveld] put everyone in such a good position and all three of our hitters were transitioning to give her all the options. [Rioflorido] was putting her dimes up as usual. I just think we had a good offence overall," said Ditchfield on the Bold's hot start to the match. 

Zonneveld was a key factor in the Bold's early success with 12 assists in the opening set — and the narrative continued throughout the night.
 

The second set was similar to the first as the Bold ran out to a 9-3 lead forcing a timeout from the Thunderwolves. However, unlike the first, the Bold were in cruise control for nearly the entire set. 

Lakehead had some momentum towards the end of the frame due to unforced TMU errors, but the deficit was too large to close the gap and the Bold took the set 25-15. 
 

The Thunderwolves' momentum carried into the final set as they opened it up with a 5-0 run themselves. 

"We realized that it was all on our side. We were making the errors and they weren't getting a chance to play," said Zonneveld.

Nonetheless, despite being down 18-13, the Bold went on an 8-1 run that sparked a comeback to win the set and match. 

"Our team did a good job of staying calm and staying patient," said Hagarty. "Although they went on a couple of 5-point runs, we were still within striking distance so we could come back.

"We just settled into how we know we can play and started to take a little less risks," Zonneveld added. "Once that confidence came back we just went for it and gave it our all."

The Bold are back at it tomorrow in a repeat against the Thunderwolves at the Mattamy Athletic Centre as they look to continue their winning ways and make it six victories in a row. 

"We'll look to continue what we did well today and flag certain things that didn't go so well," said Hagarty. 

"Coming out with a win today and going into the game tomorrow, we have a lot of confidence. Knowing we can do it fuels us and backs us up, so even if we do get into ruts we know we can come through."

First serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.