TORONTO – The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's volleyball squad were shutout on Saturday in a straight-set defeat to the Waterloo Warriors by a score of 25-13, 25-16 and 25-13.
On the heels of a dominant victory over the Bold on Friday, the Warriors put their league-leading offense and service control into high gear to pick up another straight-set win over the Toronto side, leaning on both of their strengths to pull away from TMU in the final two frames.
Perched atop the OUA in kills per set, the Warriors rallied around a game-high 15 kills in the second set to take a 2-0 stranglehold over the Bold.
The group followed what has become their main strength throughout the 2024-25 campaign with a dominant showing from the baseline, finding TMU's side of the court on six uncontested serves to take the final frame with ease.
"Waterloo plays a style of game where you have to play a very specific way to make it tough for them," said Head Coach of the Bold Dustin Reid following the loss.
"The reality is we couldn't be consistent enough with it and some poor starts in sets push you behind the eight ball from the beginning."
That was the case for the Bold in the match's opening set as they fell behind the Warriors 5-1. The visitors grew their lead to a six-point cushion through a timely block from Sydney DeGraauw and Adyson Kelly. The two leaped at the net to swallow Kaiya Krahn's kill attempt and secure a point on the set's longest rally.
Meanwhile, Waterloo's leading hitter, Rachael Meilikhan, began to settle into her traditional role as the OUA's second-best kill courier by nailing a set-high five kills to help earn her side the early edge.
The Bold responded in the middle frame however, keeping their opponent within striking distance and trailing the Warriors 15-14. In prime position to deliver a comeback, a series of errors on serve and attack from the Bold opened the door wide open for the Warriors to take control of the match, to which they did through a towering 8-1 run to pull away from the home side.
"We let them get away from us with some mistakes on our side," said Reid of his side's inability to take control of their closest frame of the afternoon. "When they got out of that set, I honestly felt like they had a big exhale," he added.
The late collapse only added greater fuel to the Warriors' victory plans that showed no indication of easing up in the third. The blue and gold were once again unable to get the better of their opponent off the hop, falling behind 9-4 and enduring four service aces to amplify the frustration.
The Warriors added two more uncontested serves later in the frame to take a 15-7 lead. A 7-3 run proved to be enough to romp past the Bold in the closing stages to secure the weekend sweep and extend TMU's search for a second-semester victory another weekend.
"We keep waiting for something to happen that will help us win and that's not how sports works," commented Reid on his side's struggles in the back half of the season.
"If we look at getting a result, it's a byproduct of playing well over a whole match…let's hope we can play games next weekend that we can be proud of, win or lose."
The Bold will look to close out their season in high spirits when they host the York Lions next Friday. First serve is scheduled to fly at 6 p.m. TMU studnets can attend for free with their OneCard.
