TORONTO — The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold defeated the RMC Paladins in straight sets on Saturday afternoon, 25-19, 25-19, 25-21, in their final match of the 2025-26 regular season.

The Bold's record now improves to 9-11 on the season, a promising five wins better than their 2024-25 finish. Although their hopes for the OUA playoffs were squashed with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees' win on Saturday morning, the victory helped finish the Bold's season on a high note.

Outside hitter Kaiya Krahn led the way for TMU, logging team-highs of 11 kills, 14 digs, and 13 points en route to the three-set sweep. Middle Ayla Cross chipped in seven kills and two solo blocks of her own.

It was outside hitter Marta Cerovic who stole the show for the Bold, though. The third-year tied her career high of six kills, using some elite touch and impeccable placement to throw off the Paladins.

"I was waiting for my time, and I think I used it to the best of my ability. It was really fun," she said after the match.

Cerovic, who has taken a role off of the Bold's bench this season, had the opportunity to shine against a now 0-20 Paladins team. She made the most of her moments on the court, picking up some timely points throughout the match.

After a kill and service ace from Cerovic set the score at 21-14 in the second set, though, RMC stormed into a 5-2 run and made things interesting.

The Bold stayed calm and took the frame 25-19 to go up 2-0 in the match–but the Paladins continued their positive momentum at the start of the third, and TMU suddenly found themselves down 11-4.

It would take a massive effort from the entire team to come back from that deficit, but the Bold wanted to end their regular season on a high note.

Krahn stepped up in a big way, logging four kills within a seven-point span to bring things within striking distance. 

Outside hitter Darcie Buchanan made her presence felt, too, adding in three kills and a service ace. The Bold eventually regained the lead, and took the set 25-21 to win the match.

Reid was proud of his team's ability to fight back in the third, despite their initial fumble:

"I thought we were a little slow to react and a little nervous about having to come back [in the third], but we slowly worked our way back in. I thought we handled the last 15 rallies really well."

"To feel less confident in our ability as a team, just because the other team is playing well, is not a path to success," he added as a critique for the future, "we need to believe that we can win the next rally regardless of how our opponent is playing."

The entirety of the Bold team will be able to take Reid's advice into the 2026-27 season, as not a single player on the roster is set to graduate this summer. The match against the Paladins, which would normally have been "senior night" as the final regular season home game of the year, involved no such celebration because of TMU's youth.

With that knowledge, Reid has focused on developing his players this season instead of solely aiming for wins.

"It's the type of season you don't get to have all the time, where you can really focus on the growth of the players and the team as a whole without expectation of having to win or needing to win," expressed Reid, "I'm really grateful for that. It's not always easy to see at the moment, but you saw in the last two days just how talented of a group we have–and how excited we are to get back to work."

The hope for the squad is to bring back the roster, after a year of growth and development, and find some success in the 2026-27. Krahn cited team chemistry as a massive strength for the Bold in the future.

"Because no one graduated, it will definitely be to our advantage next year," she said, "knowing how to play with each other, knowing how to trust each other more on the court, I really do think that will be a lot easier."

Krahn and the Bold will see the court next for the 2026-27 season.