After a convincing victory against the Ryerson Rams to get to the Final Four, the University of Toronto’s Women’s Volleyball team had to pass a strong McMaster Marauders team to reach the Championship. McMaster had finished with 13 wins and six losses, including a loss in the only regular season matchup to U of T (3–1), splitting two pre-season matchups.
With a packed house at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym, the two teams opened the match with a marathon first set. McMaster’s defense was strong, which helped their offense to 65 total attacks, sporting 24 kills by the end. U of T only managed 46 total attacks, reaching 14 kills in the set. The intensity of the crowd was boiling over, as neither team could finish the other off. Big plays at the net from U of T’s Jennifer Neilson and Bojona Radan kept the Blues with McMaster until the Marauders finally strung two points together at 33–33 to take the set 35–33.
The second set was another close game. The Marauders jumped up early on the Blues getting their offense rolling to an 11–8 score, inducing a U of T timeout. They continued their run to 14–8 before the Blues could answer. U of T’s passing made it hard for their offense to produce, but setter Madelyn Mandryk came up with many “fixes” of passes off-target, as well as some well-placed “dumps” over the Marauder blockers.
Down 16–10, U of T’s passing tightened up to help them get back in the game. Trailing 20–17, a big service ace from Ontario University Athletic (OUA) East division Rookie of the Year Tessa Davis helped gather momentum, helping U of T bring it back to 20-20. With the score 23–23, a big block from Middle Bojona Radan gave U of T the lead, setting up a serve from Charlotte Sider that would eat up the Marauder receivers to win 25–23.
U of T struggled in the third set, only managing four kills on 23 total attacks, while McMaster managed a success rate of .407 for their offense. A big serving run from McMaster’s Lauren Mastroluisi brought them to a 17–8 hold. The Marauders would keep their offense rolling to a 25–15 victory.
McMaster defense was on display in the fourth set. U of T managed multiple big hits that were dug, and often returned equally as hard. The Marauders fed a hot hand in Rookie All-Star Sophie Bukovec, who reached an impressive 30 kills on 65 total attacks, helping her team take the final set 25-18.
Though the Blues fell short to McMaster, they would have the chance to play for bronze against a strong Guelph Gryphons team Sunday at noon, which they won 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-22).
