TORONTO — The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's volleyball team swept the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday afternoon, 25-10, 25-20, 25-19 for their first win of the new year.

The Bold entered the game coming off a four-set loss to the Warriors the night prior. 

TMU was ready to enact revenge early in the first on Saturday, though, coming out to one of their hottest starts of the year. Propelled by a serving spree from outside hitter Darcie Buchanan, they stormed into a nine-point run and took a commanding 17-6 lead. Buchanan finished the match with team-highs of 14 kills and 11 digs.

The strong sequence played right into what Bold Head Coach Dustin Reid was looking to improve after the team's last loss: handling momentum.

"When our opponent is playing great, just limit their ability to run away with points," he explained on Friday, "and when we're playing good, just be able to extend it a little bit longer."

Extend it they did, gaining steam from each rally and winding up with a greater-than-ten-point advantage.

"The way we came out, the way we were executing on our side of the net was the highest level we've reached this season," praised Reid after the victory, "that was really exciting, and I'm quite proud of the team for coming out that prepared after a tough night last night."

While Buchanan led the streak with her serving, it was outside hitter Kaiya Krahn who finished plays for the Bold with some emphatic kills. The third-year racked up seven in the first set alone, more than half of her 13 total in the match. She rounded out her impressive statline with two service aces and nine digs.

Krahn had cooled down in the new year after starting off the 2025-26 season hot, logging five or less kills in six straight games prior to TMU's series with Waterloo. She began to kick back into gear on Friday night, though, and erupted to help propel the Bold to a win on Saturday.

"I really think Kaiya's aggressiveness and getting the ball high above the net, where the blockers can't get her as easily, was a real breakthrough for her," complimented Reid.

With Krahn and Buchanan leading their attacking, the Bold cruised into a dominant 25-10 first set victory. 

Set two was a closer battle, with the Warriors making some adjustments and doing a better job of handling TMU's offence.

"In the second set, there were a couple moments where Waterloo really was pushing back hard, credit to them," said Reid, "we handled those situations with patience, a little bit of resiliency, and ultimately made things happen."

It was again the Bold's ability to control the momentum that allowed them to stay afloat during the Warriors' hot streaks. They played their game, and attacked when the time was right.

Their offence benefitted from the new approach, logging a nearly 40% hitting percentage in the match – 25% higher than their season average.

By consistently putting pressure on Waterloo's back line and not making any errors, TMU managed to force their opponents into a miserable 6% hitting percentage. That difference in efficiency at the net easily propelled the Bold to victory.

"Since the return of the holiday, [improved attacking] has been a big point of emphasis in our training," explained Reid, "and we've seen some good games, but I thought today was the best that our offence has functioned."

Thanks to their newfound attacking ability, TMU put together a four-point run to seal the second set, 25-20. 

The Bold found their first real challenge of the match during the start of the third, when Waterloo put together a string of strong attacks and came out to a 10-6 lead. 

It was Reid's freshman setter Mattea Di Bacco who led the charge to help TMU back into things, tricking blockers with dump sets and putting the ball on a platter for teammates like Krahn and Buchanan.

Di Bacco was all alone in the setting department during the weekend: her only position-mate, freshman Sadie Bird, sat out both matches due to injury management. 

"Mattea really had to shoulder a lot," praised Reid, "both from a physical standpoint and a heavy emotional standpoint of knowing we really didn't have a backup. I thought she was tremendous both days, and today she did a really great job of guiding our offence." 

Di Bacco racked up 37 assists in both matches, averaging nearly 11 assists per set over the weekend. Her offensive leadership despite being in just her first year provided the Bold with an edge after going down early in the first.

TMU chipped their way back into the frame, and eventually built up some more much-needed momentum. They generated a nine-point run, handily taking a 25-19 victory in the third to seal the match.

The win, which marks the team's first in six games, boosts the Bold's record to 7-9 and tenth in the OUA standings. With just four games left in the season, every rally matters as Reid's team fights to squeak into the playoffs. 

Making the postseason would do wonders for the team, which is chock-full of first and second-years, by providing them with some experience in big-time moments.

"Our team wanted to talk about the playoffs in the first half [of the season], and we got off to a slow start in the second half," recalled Reid, "but with the win today, we'd probably have to win three of our last four [to make the playoffs], but we'd have a chance to do that. What an exciting opportunity for our young team to play meaningful games."

TMU sees the court next in Guelph for a weekend series against the Guelph Gryphons. The first matchup goes down on January 30 at 6 p.m., and fans can tune into the game live at OUA.tv.