Coming off of a phenomenal first half of the season (10-1 in conference play), the women’s volleyball team had high hopes coming into the 16th annual national invitational tournament.

Hosting the sixth-ranked Montreal Carabins, the tenth-ranked Winnipeg Wesmen, the Manitoba Bisons, and cross-town rival the York Lions, the Blues’ expectations were not realized as the team dropped all four of their contests en route to a last-place finish.

“We didn’t capitalize on opportunities and squandered too many leads,” coach Kristine Drakich said. “We were a little tired. The trip ( an exhibition tour in Vancouver) took a lot out of us.”

The Blues never found their rhythm and the team’s sole constant was its tendency to let opponents back into the match. Toronto dropped as many contests in the first day, two, as they had in the first half of season.

“I don’t think we played as well as we have been,” said Drakich. “I also don’t think we’re quite as good as we will be just yet.”

The Blues will look to get back to their winning ways this Friday when they travel to St. Catherine’s to take on the Brock Badgers (2-7) and aim for revenge on York Sunday at the Athletic Centre.

The Blues drew the tournament favourite Montreal (8-2) in their first game of day one. After seeing Manitoba defeat Winnipeg in five sets earlier in the day, this looked to be a preview of the final, as the two teams exhibited what appeared to be an elevated level of play as compared to the first contest.

In the opening frame the Blues’ early lead disintegrated under the power hits of Carbins Myriam Aboumerchi and Laetitia Tchoualack as Montreal took the first set, 25-22. Toronto countered in the second frame, as Melinda Lee and Asya Danilova kept the Blues in it with big play after big play, squaring the second set with a 25-21 victory.

The third set was a back-and-forth battle as the Blues forced set-point twice on the Carabins. It proved to be not enough as Montreal eventually clawed to a 29-27 victory.

In what would prove to be a recurring theme for the Blues the entire weekend, the fourth set started with an early Toronto charge followed by a complete drought, as the Carabins coasted to a 25-17 victory, closing out the game 3-1.

After Winnipeg defeated York in the next contest and Manitoba upset Montreal, the Blues were looking to find their rhythm against a York squad that they had handled in straight sets earlier in the season. The Lions (6-3), however, returned the favour as they handed the Blues a straight-set defeat to close out the action on day one.

It would not get any easier for the Blues in their first match of day two, taking on a Manitoba squad (5-5) that was undefeated after day one.

Early on Toronto looked to be on their way to blemishing that record, as Blue Leah Towell came to life, smashing the majority of her 12 kills en route to a 25-17 set one victory. As had been the case in day one, the Blues failed to keep the momentum throughout the entire match and dropped the next three sets.

Toronto’s final match of the round robin had the Blues facing a Winnipeg team (7-3) looking to rebound after getting swept by Montreal earlier in the day. Toronto won the opening set 25-19, but was stifled after that. The Blues’ powerful attack was countered by the defence of Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Jackson, who led the Wesmen with nine blocks. Motivated by her, Winnipeg went on to win the set and the next two, ending Toronto’s hopes of participating in the medal rounds of day three.

Rounding out the tournament, the Wesmen went on to defeat York 3-1 for the bronze medal in the final day of competition, while Montreal took the gold with a 3-1 victory over the previously undefeated Manitoba Bisons.

The Carabins’ Melody Benhamou took home tournament MVP honours after recording 39 kills and 17 blocks throughout the tournament. Joining Benhamou on the tournament all-star squad was teammate Myriam Aboumerchi, Manitoba’s Katherine Davidson and Erin Nieuwenburg, York’s Nicole Carleton-Burnham, Winnipeg’s Jackson, and Towell of the Blues.