This past weekend, the Varsity Blues Women’s Volleyball team hosted back-to-back games against the Queens Gaels at the Goldring Center on February 6 and 7. The Blues had built themselves a small three-game win streak with one electric win against the nationally ranked Brock Badgers on January 24, followed by two clean sweeps against the Royal Military College Paladins on January 30 and 31.
In the penultimate matchup of the regular season, the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) standings were precarious as the Varsity Blues, Queens Gaels, and McMaster Marauders each had an 11–5 match record at the start of the weekend.
Fighting hard to secure a favourable playoff seeding, the Blues’ match against the Gaels resulted in two consecutive losses. The first match had a set score of 1–3 (25–20, 21–25, 19–25, 20–25), and the second match saw the Blues swept 0–3 (19–25, 10–25, 24–26).
What happened?
The opening set of the first night showed promise for the Blues. After trading side-out points back and forth, the Blues found their rhythm and were able to continually eke out one or two consecutive points from the service line through coordinated rally defence.
The payoff amounted to a healthy lead of 20–15 for the Blues as they set their sights on the final five points.
Although the Gaels were able to quickly dig in their heels to minimize the gap at 21–20, it was second-year outside hitter Julia Liu who dominated at the net by scoring four of the last five points for the Blues and secured the first set 1–0.
The start of the second set continued to look strong for the Blues, as two early aces by fourth-year middle blocker Thea Zeissman got the set started in favour of the Blues 3–0. However, from that point onward, the Blues encountered stiff resistance and were unable to generate a lead of more than three points for the remainder of the set and the following set.
The Gaels claimed the second set with a comfortable point differential of four points (21–25) and subsequently claimed the third by widening the point differential to six points (19–25) to swing the set score to 1–2.
Critical to the Gaels’ success was the pressure exerted from the service line. Gaels’ third and fourth-year outside hitters Claire Carter and Abigail McAlpine’s top-spin serves would frequently create favourable rally conditions to help score consecutive points.
In the fourth set, the Blues fought hard to maintain parity and keep the scores tied at 12–12.
By finding a new gear for her serve, Carter from the service line proceeded to unleash a barrage onto the Blues to help the Gaels net four consecutive points, followed by an ace of her own. With the scores now at 12–17 and having exhausted both timeouts, the Blues were unable to mount a comeback, dropping the final set 20–25 and ended the night with a 1–3 loss.
The Blues’ offence was led by outside hitters Giulia Chimilovski, Olivia Zhu, and Liu, each with 13 kills. Middle blocker Zeissman was also a notable contributor, earning eight points through two aces, two blocks and four kills.
On the side of the Gaels, outside hitter Pascale Galarneau notched 17 kills, followed by Carter and McAlpine, who both earned 12 kills. Libero Holly Biasi led the team’s defensive efforts with 22 digs.
The next day
After some rest and reflection, the Blues returned to Goldring Center on Saturday hungry for the rematch.
The opening set saw both teams trading blows back and forth evenly, with the teams finding themselves neck-and-neck up to five points apiece. The Gaels managed to pull ahead slightly, and eventually took a comfortable lead by bringing the score to 14–20 with a strong four-point scoring run.
Gaels fourth-year setter Kennedy Millin further capitalized on her team’s windfall by proceeding to score the last three of the six points. Adopting a hyper-aggressive style to attack on the second contact, Millin scored with both crafty tips and hard-driven spikes to quickly close out the set 19–25.
The second set for the Blues was marred by discord. The mounting service pressure applied by the Gaels not only put the Blues out of their offensive system, but glitches in the Blues’ communication led to several player collisions over attempts to play the ball. Consequently, the Gaels coasted through the second set with a landslide 10–25 finish.
The third set saw the Blues return to their original level of play and communication. Trailing the Gaels 2–7 in the opening plays, it was second-year middle blocker Marie Boulerice and fourth-year Zeissman who pulled their team through the trough.
With two critical kills from Boulerice and one from Zeissman, the middles began to rekindle hope and allowed the Blues to start their comeback.
By dividing the attention of the Gaels’ blocking unit, the Blues soon scored follow-up points and found themselves with a small lead as they entered the critical last points of 21–18.
An attacking error from the Gaels further pushed the Blues ahead 23–19 for what seemed like an easy set conversion.
Coming out of their last timeout, the Gaels returned to the court to play lights-out volleyball. With resilient defensive play, the Gaels produced two blocks in the span of three points and forced the Blues into overtime 24–24.
With the momentum clearly in favour of the opposition, the stalemate ended quickly with a kill from Carter followed by another stuff block from McAlpine. Narrowly missing their window to forge a comeback, the Blues concluded their weekend with two match losses.
Chimilovski led the Blues’ offence with 10 kills, followed by Liu, who notched seven. Zhu was the overall strongest server with three aces in the match, and Boulerice ended the afternoon with an impressive five kills and one block.
The Gaels’ offensive system produced a high overall hitting percentage of .323 per cent. Carter led the pack with 15 kills, followed by McAlpine with 10. Kennedy Millin’s five kills from the setter position cemented her as the third kill leader of the match. At the net, Lauren MacPhail dominated with four blocks, and McAlpine also found three blocks, including the game-winning play.
What’s next?
The results of this weekend see the Blues fall to seventh in the OUA standings. With one final regular season match-up of the season on February 13 and 14, the Blues will host the Western Mustangs, who are nationally ranked at 10th and second in the OUA standings.
With only two games left to add to their overall record, the Blues must continue to play hard in order to secure a top eight position and spot in the playoff bracket. The OUA quarterfinals are scheduled to start on February 20.
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