The Varsity Blues men’s volleyball team capped a perfect weekend by sweeping away a helpless York Lions team (25-18, 25-15, 25-18) Saturday night at the U of T Athletic Centre, raising their winning streak to three.
Looking confident and comfortable, the Blues clearly played off the momentum from their thrilling win against the Ryerson Rams (20-25, 23-25, 25-22, 27-25, 15-9) Friday night when they came back from two sets down to win in five.
The team is starting to find its identity as players such as Matthew Stefanoff, Mike Manning, and Adam Palmer, who struggled at the beginning of the season, are starting to play up to their potential.
Just two weeks ago you could be excused for writing off the team after they dropped four straight to start the season. However, in their Nov. 1 loss to the Waterloo Warriors, a hard-fought five-set match, the team began to show signs of life. Three matches later, including coming back twice from two sets down to win a blowout over York, the team has not just turned a corner, but have done a full U-turn.
On Saturday, the Blues starters played nearly flawlessly, denying York the chance to score more than 18 points in any one set as they dominated on offense (with 39 kills to York’s 23) and on defence (30 digs to 25 and 11 blocks to three), while winning each set by an average of eight points.
Key to the Blues’ dramatic comeback over Ryerson on Friday was their exploitation of their opponents’ Achilles’ heel: liberos Anthony Kentris and Robert Earl.
Clearly targeted by Blues’ servers, both Kentris and Earl struggled mightily, highlighted by their inability to pass the ball anywhere near one of their teammates. This also contributed largely to the Blues’ season-high nine service aces on the match.
The women had a much easier time taking care of business, needing only seven sets to win both matches over the weekend.
On Saturday, however, it was the Lions who roared out of the gate, taking just 20 minutes to hammer the Blues 25-14 in the first set.
Blues head coach Kristine Drakich quickly calmed down her troops, as her team responded by dominating the next three sets (25-10, 25-18, 25-19).
On Friday, Blues’ star player Heather Bansley made a triumphant return to court against Ryerson after starting the season in Thailand competing for Canada’s national beach volleyball team. Bansley picked up where she left off, leading the team with seven kills and 15 digs as the Blues cruised to victory in straight sets (25-21, 25-20, 25-15).
Another positive from the weekend was the play of rookies Alexandra Hudson and Rebecca Crosier. Both proved they are more then capable of handling the pressures that come with being starters and both were instrumental in the Blues victory over Ryerson, chipping in with five kills each. Crosier also had a big day behind the service line, leading all players with five aces.
