TORONTO — The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold took down the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on Saturday afternoon in straight sets, 3-0.

The match was the second of a back-to-back series between the two teams, with the Gee-Gees having come up on top in a hard-fought battle on Friday evening.

After taking the first set in that matchup, the Bold reached set point in both the second and the third but weren't able to win either of them. The loss was disheartening, but TMU bounced right back to start things off on Saturday.

They stormed out to a 5-0 lead, helped out in large part by two kills from middle Julia Breen. The run prompted an immediate timeout from the Gee-Gees.

"We had a tremendous start," praised Bold Head Coach Dustin Reid, "yesterday we didn't have any strong starts in the sets that we played."

That strong start helped TMU maintain a five-point lead for most of the set, and a service ace from outside hitter Kaiya Krahn made the score 17-12.

Krahn, the team's leader in total kills this year, was yet again stellar offensively during the match. She finished with a team-high 11 kills, and a career-high of 17 digs — an impressive mark for only a three-set match.

"She's a tremendously physically strong player," praised Reid, "I thought she made a lot of smart shots today…to see her excel on the serve receive side against a great serving team, I'm probably most excited for her in those areas."

The Bold's team defence was impressive on the night: a crucial part of a win against the Gee-Gees, who are the top-ranked offensive team in the province.

TMU were able to log 58 digs on the night. 17 came from Krahn, and 15 came from outside hitter Darcie Buchanan.

"As long as we got the ball back into a place where we could play it, we had the advantage and we could go after it again," noted Krahn.

That strong defence later forced Ottawa into an attacking error to hand the Bold the first set, 25-20. 

The second set was more back-and-forth than the first. The teams traded points until TMU was able to finally pull ahead, 15-10.

They used that positive momentum to their advantage, and kept up some long rallies that wore down the Gee-Gees and caused them to make multiple attacking errors — a stat that helped turn the game in the favour of TMU.

The Bold finished the match with an 11.5% hitting percentage, securing 33 kills on just 20 attacking errors. The Gee-Gees, on the other hand, logged 25 kills and 24 attacking errors: good for a measly 9%. In a sport like volleyball where most sets come down to less than a five-point margin, a small difference like that often decides the game.

"I think [those long rallies] gave us a little bit of confidence that we can win the rally without always having to go for it," explained Reid, "they're such an aggressive team that sometimes you feel if you give them the ball, they'll just drive it down our throat. So, I thought our trust in the block and defence game was the reason why we were comfortable in those longer rallies. We managed to handle their aggression."

By waiting patiently and not forcing any difficult attacks, the Bold forced Ottawa to make the mistakes. That strategy allowed them to rack up points in all three sets.

An impressive kill from Krahn marked a TMU second set win, 25-19.

The Gee-Gees wouldn't go down without a fight, though, logging a seven-point run early in the third to gain a 9-4 advantage. Reid was forced to call a timeout.

"We knew they'd play better in the third, and they came out serving and blocking very well. All of a sudden, we looked up and we were down quite a bit," admitted the Head Coach.

TMU stayed calm, though, continuing their strategy of letting Ottawa make the mistakes. The Gee-Gees began to rack up even more attacking and service errors, allowing the Bold to slowly climb back into the game. With their lead shrunk down to 15-13, it was the Gee-Gees' turn to call a timeout.

"I think the fact that it was early [in the set] and the fact that we thought we were playing better volleyball…those things all combined to give us a sense of calm and patience to see if we could slowly work our way back in — and we did that."

"Our coaches have really been pushing this 'next rally mentality' on us," added Krahn, "not worrying about the score is. No matter what, being ready to battle for the next point. I think we really showed that today."

Later in the set, the Bold dominated on a five-point run to take a 20-18 lead. Krahn notched two kills, along with a kill from both Buchanan and setter Sadie Bird.

Buchanan was a consistent attacking force for TMU all game long, using smart placement to keep the Gee-Gees on their toes. She logged the second-most kills for the Bold with nine, and tied middle Ayla Cross for the second-most points with 11.0.

It was Buchanan who sealed the deal at the end of the third, logging her ninth kill and winning TMU the set with a score of 25-21.

"To bounce back and be ready to play today after a tough result last night, it says a lot about the commitment of our players," praised Reid.

The Bold now have six days to rest before heading away to the Trent University Excalibur for a weekend series on November 28 and 29. The two games will be the Bold's last in the fall semester: they rest for the winter break before returning to action on January 9.

"I expect it to be hard, playing in their gym," admitted Reid when asked about the team's matchup with the Excalibur, "what I'm most interested in in terms of carrying things forward is how well we'll prepare ourselves this week for our last two matches of the season."

The first serve for their matchup against the Excalibur on the 28 is set for 6 p.m., and fans can tune into the game live on OUA.TV.