The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s volleyball team won their back and forth battle with the RMC Paladins on Saturday.

The game featured a raucous atmosphere thanks to the strong support RMC received on the road from its fans, beating drums and playing hunting horns.

The Paladins’ loud support did not, however, create a home-court disadvantage, according to Blues head coach Kristine Drakich: “I don’t know if it had an impact on the game. They played very good defense and brought the ball back. I’m not sure the crowd made a difference.”

Blues’ star Emma Jennings (12 kills, five digs, two blocks) wasn’t dismissive as her coach and took it personally: “It’s our home gym,” she said, “we have to own it.”

The Blues did own the lead for the majority of the first two sets, but failed to dominate RMC. Aided by their fans, the underdog Paladins showed a lot of moxie, standing up to the more athletic and polished Blues, and never letting a lead get out of hand. Despite their best efforts, they lost the first two sets 25–16, 25–18.

And the Paladin’s swagger — the team was seen syncing up their pre-game warm-ups with the top-40 hits being blasted over the PA —  paid dividends for most of the third set. RMC jumped out to a 13–10 lead that forced the Blues to call a time out to regroup. The Blues then brought the score to a one-point difference (17–16) after Tessa Davis’s service ace. But the confident Paladins once again pulled away, extending the lead by four to 21–17.

Just in time, the Blues countered with six unanswered points to take a 23–21 lead. The unanswered points also forced the now-reeling Paladins to take a timeout. After the timeout, the Blues scored to make it game point. The Paladins didn’t back down and added a point to briefly stave off defeat.

Shortly thereafter, the Blues clinched it with a Tessa Davis spike to win the final set 25–22. According to Jennings, the comeback was actually a result of their players raising their voices at each other: “[Our team] was a little bit quiet, but we pushed through. We started talking more, got louder. [It] made us enjoy the game more.”

The game wasn’t without controversy. The aforementioned horn player was switching sides every set so he could distract the Blues while serving. In addition, he was heckling the players as they served (on one occasion yelling “don’t mess up”). Nevertheless, the Blues players managed nine services aces in the game. Jennings said the horn player didn’t manage to get under the teams skin: “[Distractions are] there, but were just focusing on our game and not what’s around us.”

The Blues improve to a 7–2 record, moving into a first place tie with the University of Ottawa.