Both the men’s volleyball university teams from Waterloo and Laurier invaded U of T’s Sports Gym this past weekend, leaving the Blues in exactly the same position statistically where they were over a month ago before the winter break.
On Friday, the Blues rang in the New Year and second half of the OUA volleyball season by hosting and defeating the Waterloo Warriors 3-1 (21-25, 25-16, 25-21, 31-29). On Saturday, the Laurier Golden Hawks got revenge for their Waterloo cousins, defeating the Blues 3-1 (10-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-18).
Friday’s match also marked the return of Blues starting setter Deagan McDonald, who was been sidelined since breaking his foot on Halloween against Queen’s.
The match had it all: close nail biting sets sandwiching a blowout set to a dramatic finale in the fourth where set and match points were thrown around like tequila at a Mexican wedding.
In the end, the Blues prevailed. Head coach Ed Drakich couldn’t contain his excitement after the dramatic high scoring fourth.
“Pretty exciting eh? The level of play was quite good. I think we’re going in the right direction,” said Drakich.
Pleased about McDonald’s triumphant return and immediate impact to his lineup, Drakich couldn’t help but award him the prestigious Player of the Game honours.
“Deagan’s our quarterback and we only had him for one of our first 10 matches. So we played nine matches without our starting setter and he really makes a difference.”
Despite the appearance of blowing the Warriors out in the second set, 25-16, the Blues were actually down 12-7 early on and looked like they might fold and take the easy way out. But instead they did the exact opposite, going on an amazing 18-4 run to end the set and tilt the momentum in the Blues’ favour.
“We were up in the first and then we found the tank. But it was a combination of Waterloo really going for it and we were tentative and they just sort of steamrolled us at the end of the first set,” said Drakich. “In the second set we were getting blown out, but the guys started to settle down.”
Drakich admitted what impressed him the most about the match was the calm and maturity his players displayed during the wild fourth set.
“The guys, they stayed consistent, they stayed level-headed and they fought and I’m really proud,” said Drakich. “That was a really nice win […] Waterloo is a very strong team and our guys showed a lot of heart today, a lot of fight.”
Another player who put a smile on Drakich’s face were left side hitter, Jessi Lelliott, who stepped in to play libero.
“He was making some digs that were just unbelievable. He was a difference maker for us,” said Drakich.
Steve Kung showed why he leads the OUA in points per game with 21 kills on the match. Drakich also showered praise on freshman Kyle Konietzny.
“I give him a lot of credit, he’s a freshman and he got put in a very difficult situation and he came out and passed some really tough balls and fought really hard,” he said.
On Saturday it was a freshman from Laurier who put the hurt on Toronto.
After looking like they were still on a high from the Waterloo win, the Blues quickly mopped up the Golden Hawks 25-10 in the first set.
Then the Samuel Schachter show began.
The rookie from Richmond Hill reeled off an amazing eight aces on the match, including three straight in the second set that left even refs laughing in disbelief. Even Schachter’s serves that didn’t drop for aces were plenty difficult to pass, resulting in several free balls for Laurier.
Schachter also added 11 kills and eight digs. Another young star for Laurier, Greg Houston helped supplement Schachter’s attack with a team-leading 13 kills and the only other ace.
For the Blues, Steve Kung was his usual serial killer self, finishing with match highs in kills (18) and digs (10).
The Blues (5-7) will now face off against their striking rivals from York (2-10). Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday night.
