TORONTO — The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's volleyball team defeated the RMC Paladins in straight sets on Friday evening, 25-10, 25-13, 25-13.

Although their hopes of making the OUA playoffs are slim (they currently sit 10th in the standings with a record of 8-11), the victory against the Paladins will no doubt help lift the spirits of the young TMU squad. 

The result seemed inevitable from the jump, as the Bold kicked things off with an overpowering lead early in the first.

Outside hitter Tyra Krapp helped propel her team into a scoring run, logging four service aces in a row. The mark tied the third-year's career high before the first set had even reached its halfway point, and sucked any ounce of momentum out of the Paladins.

Despite an RMC timeout, Krapp extended her service run to nine points before eventually heading to the bench having gained her team a 15-4 lead.

"I was just thinking about what we do in practice," explained Krapp when asked about what was going through her head during the streak, "we practice with some walking back to the line, doing your game serve, and that's what I brought into the game. It was kind of a strategy going into the game as well, because we really wanted to serve tough."

She finished with two kills, four service aces, one block, and 6.5 points in the match.

"I think Tyra is always doing a lot of little things that go mostly unnoticed," praised Bold Head Coach Dustin Reid, "and it allows other people to have success…her serving was great tonight, she made some great digs, she made some really smart blocks, and did some things that allow other people to really shine. It speaks to her character."

Krapp's impact on the court doesn't show up as much as it should in the stat sheet, but it's clear that both her teammates and her coaches respect and appreciate everything she does to influence winning.

"I'm not the strongest hitter," she admitted, "I might not have the biggest plays, but if I can support people–if that's with a good pass, or just communicating at the net–then I've done a good job."

Thanks to Krapp's hot start and some reception errors, the Bold cruised into a 25-10 first set victory.

Outside hitter Hannah Bellai also shined in the frame, tallying six kills. She finished the match with a tied-for-team-high of eight, and added in seven digs.

It was Krapp yet again with a five-point service run midway through the second, and the Bold had soon enough pulled away to a 16-6 lead. Coach Reid was proud of his roster for finding such success early in each frame:

"We were dictating the game the whole time, especially at the start of each set, establishing a lead and a [high] level of play on the outside. I think that made it really tough for RMC."

Another highlight of the match was second-year Rian Lenarduzzi's play. The outside hitter notched a career high of eight kills to go along with her two total blocks.

Lenarduzzi's play helped propel TMU to a blowout 25-13 victory in set two, and the team eventually took the third set by the same score to end the match.

"[Lenarduzzi] is always prepared," praised Reid after the match, "no one works harder to prepare herself than Rian on our squad, and [it was great] to see her get a chance to go out there and do what she does really well: attack aggressively, block aggressively…a great night for her in the scoring department."

"For me, it's just focusing on my connection with the setters," said Lenarduzzi, "it's something we've been working on all season. Then, it's just executing and competing at the level that I can."

The Bold have just one regular season match left on the schedule, once again against the Paladins on Saturday afternoon. Lenarduzzi, among other bench pieces on TMU, will likely have the opportunity to shine once again in that matchup when taking into consideration RMC's now 0-19 record.

First serve on Saturday is set for 4 p.m. at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, and students can enter the game for free with their OneCards.