A tension-filled atmosphere filled the air at the Athletic Centre over the weekend, even though it was only an exhibition tournament that a dedicated group of family, friends, and fans came to see. Volleyball bragging rights were on the line, but the Blues came away with mixed results.
From January 7-9 the university played host to the U of T Women’s Volleyball National Invitational Tournament. The Blues had to contend with the likes of the Laval Rouge et Or, the University of Manitoba Bisons, the University of Montreal Carabins, and local rivals the York Lions.
Laval went through the tournament undefeated and was crowned tournament champions after defeating Montreal in the final. U of T finished in fourth place after a disappointing loss to Manitoba in the third-place match. York finished in last place, having gone 0-4 in the round-robin portion of the tournament.
“Every year this tournament happens just after coming off a long break-our last competition was November 27 and we didn’t resume formal training until January second,” said Blues head coach Kristine Drakich. “My hope for this tournament is that we got reacquainted with our competition routine so that we are fully prepared to start the second half of the season.”
The only win for the Blues came against the hapless York squad; however, the team was competitive in each of their games. Their only match in which they lost in three straight sets came against the Bisons on Saturday.
U of T started the tournament off with a loss to Montreal and a victory over York on Friday. They followed that up with a lopsided loss to Manitoba and a narrow defeat in a five-set thriller against Laval on Saturday to end the round-robin portion of the schedule.
“I didn’t have any expectations of achieving a certain result at this tournament,” explained Drakich. “I knew that all of the teams at this tournament would be equally matched and anything was possible. However, our main focus was on our preparation and our play and not results.”
Drakich went on to explain that there were many positives about her team’s play on the weekend, on which the squad can build on in the new year. Teamwork, the ability to use a variety of lineups with success, and the ability to come back from a two-set deficit to win or come close to winning were among the things she citted. She also singled out middle hitters Leah Towell and Laura Powers as two players who had consistently strong play over the weekend.
The only disappointment for Drakich was the loss to the Bisons in the third-place game, as the coach felt her team missed opportunities to win the match: “We had every opportunity to win third place-after winning the first set and having a five and seven point lead in the second and third sets, respectively. Finishing fourth was a bit disappointing.”
Drakich saw three areas in the Blues’ game that need work at this point in the season: serving, receiving, and “the ability to consistently execute basic skills well and play strong regardless of the score.” The coach noted that she is confident all of these areas will get better over time.
As for season outlook, Drakich is confident her team will make a strong push for the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) title: “[Making a run at the OUA title] is our plan and I think we are doing what needs to be done to do that.”
As a final note, Asya Danilova of the Blues was named to the tournament’s all-star team.
