NORTH BAY, ONT. — The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's volleyball team were handed their first loss of the 2025-26 season from the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday afternoon at the Robert J Surtees Student Athletic Centre, three sets to one.

The matchup was the second of a Halloween weekend back-to-back between the two teams. The Bold came out victorious in the first game, so the Lakers came out with a vengeance in the first set.

They jumped out to a 6-1 lead early in set one, prompting a timeout from TMU Head Coach Dustin Reid.

Nipissing grew that lead up to nine, but the Bold managed to find some momentum. A diving dig from libero Livia Davenport stunned the away crowd and led to an attacking error from the Lakers and her team's second point of the set. Davenport finished with 10 digs in the match.

The impressive play gave TMU some energy, and they stormed into a 6-1 run that forced a timeout from Nipissing. The Bold's back line was crucial during the comeback, making split-second reactions to get to some difficult digs and keep the ball in play.

A kill from outside hitter Darcie Buchanan brought the Bold to within one, 12-11. Buchanan led the team in points, finishing the match with 14.0.

Later in the set, the Lakers managed to gain a lead once again, 19-13. Back-to-back kills from TMU's Marta Cerovic gave the Bold some hope, but it was unfortunately too little too late for the squad. Despite their resilience, Nipissing took the set 25-18 and the set lead 1-0.

The second set started out with an emphatic kill from outside hitter Kaiya Krahn, followed by back-to-back kills from middle Ayla Cross. The Bold were on fire, starting out the set 6-1.

That momentum continued and TMU found themselves leading 17-11 later in the set.

A kill from outside hitter Tyra Krapp after a long, hectic rally provided a perfect example of how the Bold were able to fight through pressure and get themselves back in the game: they did it in that rally, and they did it in the second set.

Despite a late run from the Lakers to try to make things close, TMU stayed composed and held onto their lead. The Bold took set two, 25-21. The set score was tied up at 1-1, headed into an important third frame.

In that third set, some aggressive play from the Lakers early led to yet another large score gap at the start of the frame. TMU found themselves down 8-3 and called timeout to sort things out.

The Bold refused to go down without a fight, though, and in another show of incredible resiliency brought themselves back to within two.

But despite TMU's strong will, Nipissing was just too hard to stop in the third set. A combination of service aces and solid defence at the net allowed the Lakers to take the set 25-16, putting the Bold on the brink of their first loss of the season.

The fourth set was the only of the match to have a back-and-forth start. Both squads managed some impressive kills, including a tricky fake set from first-year Sadie Bird – a move that's become a go-to for her. Bird finished the match with a team-high 17 assists.

Midway through the set, however, the Lakers pulled away on a 5-0 run that forced Reid to call a timeout.

TMU again battled back after the timeout, going on a 5-1 run of their own.

That pattern continued for the remainder of the set, with both teams logging 4-1 runs and then 3-0 runs. The score was 22-21 Bold as the frame reached clutch time.

With the crowd behind them, though, the Lakers managed to make one last push to seal the match. They scored four straight points, taking the fourth set 25-22 and sealing their 3-1 win.

The unfortunate result marked the first loss of the year for what has been an impressive Bold squad this season as their record falls now to 3-1. 

TMU will return to the court with another set of back-to-back away games on November 14 and 15, this time against the Windsor Lancers. First serve is set for 6 p.m.on Nov. 14 and fans can tune into the game live on OUA.tv.