Bold blow past rival Blues

TORONTO – Behind an electric crowd on their home court, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s volleyball team rallied off three straight sets and defeated the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 3-1 (21-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-18) on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

“By far,” said Alex King, when asked about if that was the best crowd he’s been a part of in his Bold career. “This was the first time I’ve played with both bleachers down — it really added a dynamic and really lit a fire.”

“It was so much fun,” said King.

“It was defnitley number-one,” said Lhexen Rabit, when asked about the crowd. “Bucket list forsure.”

The Bold prevailed in a massive third set 25-20 to take the lead — their second-straight set win after dropping the opener — before taking care of business in the fourth-and-final frame to pick uo the victory.

“We’ve been looking forward to everything clicking,” said Rabit. “Everything was just working. I can’t describe how proud I am of my teammates.”

The win marks four in the last five for TMU, as they rebounded following Wednesday night’s five set loss to the Waterloo Warriors.

“We really worked hard after the loss to Waterloo,” said Rabit.

“To come in here and beat a team like that — I think it’s a huge testament to where we’re going. I think it’s going to set the tone for the next three or four games. It feels really good against a tough team,” said Bold head coach Niko Rukavina.

The win felt even sweeter for the Bold considering it came against the crosstown rival Blues, a team that eliminated them from the posteason in 2021-22.

“We’ve had some tough luck against them — to beat them in four and really handle them at the end there, it felt really good,” said Rukavina.

“Every time we play against U of T, it’s a barnburner — five setters — it was bound to happen eventually. Tonight was our night,” said King.

With the victory, TMU moved above the .500 mark to 9-8 on the season, while the loss dropped the Blues to 11-6. Jacob Walker led the way for the Bold with 20 kills, while Ben Davey and King joined the second-year outside hitter in double-digit kills with 15 and 10, respectively.

“Ben — Ben was lights out today. He was the guy. He really pulled his stuff together and he put on a show. He was phenomenal,” said King.

The night also served as the team’s first-ever Pride night. Rabit, who was the spokeperson for the team for the event and is a part of the LGBTQ2 community spoke on what it meant to him to be a part of and see come to life.

“It’s a pretty big deal for me,” said Rabit. “In my first year, I didn’t have the courage to start this initiative. I’ve also been planning this for almost a year now. It’s just really cool to have everybody — both women’s and men’s teams — wear our Pride t-shirt, and wear with them with pride. It means a lot to me, because I represent a whole community. I’m the only one who can really represent that.”

“I’m really also really proud of our school and kind of thankful for a school for letting me do the initiative. It’s a pretty big deal,” said Rabit.

“I really hope this initiative goes on forever. I’m just really proud of everybody coming in and showing their own pride.”

It’s so important to me, I’ve coached Lhexen for five years, and I’m so proud of the man he is and who he’s become in this university and on this team. To see him thriving in this situation, and to be able to bring his community out like this — it’s just so awesome to see. I want to continue to support him and anybody on our team,” said Rukavina.

The Bold are back in action next Friday, as they look for revenge against Waterloo. First serve at the Mattamy Athletic Centre is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.