TMU falls to Western in four sets

TORONTO – The TMU men’s volleyball team fell in four sets to Western on Friday night, 25-17, 23-25, 25-15, 25-15 in their first action of 2024. The loss puts the Bold at 5-7 on the season, and has them sitting 9th in the OUA as the second half begins.

First-year hitter Liam Cobb found early success through the first set as the Bold kept pace with an impressive Mustangs offence that has the London outfit ranked 15th in the nation. Self-inflicted mistakes put the Bold behind the 8-ball in the first set. Jacob Walker, an OUA first-team all-star last season, made his return to the lineup and his impact was noticeable.

“Being back with the guys, being back in the home gym felt good,” said Walker following the contest.

Walker’s heroics were not enough to shift the Western momentum, however, as the Mustangs claimed a 17-13 lead before a TMU timeout. Coming out of the break, more defensive miscues sunk the Bold’s first set comeback chances with Western going on an 8-3 run to end the set.

The second set was a back and forth affair, with the Bold and Mustangs trading points early. The Mustangs, who held a slight lead through the set’s first half, saw their lead challenged by a resilient Bold squad. However, net violations and service errors continued to haunt the Bold, as TMU sought to equalize both the set and contest. Despite this, the Bold found points when necessary, keeping the set within striking distance.

“We started missing less serves and giving less opponent errors,” said head coach Niko Rukavina on the shift during the second set.

The Bold would draw the set level at 23, forcing a frantic finish to the set. After a wild sequence gave the Bold set point at 24-23, two big Bold blocks by Cobb and Taylor Wenzel gave TMU a pivotal set win.

The third set saw Western jump out to a commanding 7-2 lead forcing an early TMU timeout. The break seemed to reset the Bold, as TMU generated several small runs to bring themselves closer. The Mustangs’ high-flying attack would prove problematic to the Bold, however, as they remained firmly in control throughout the third. The Mustangs would close the set on a 7-4 run to win the third, 25-15. 

The Bold found themselves trailing at the start of the fourth set again, as they had in the previous three. The Mustangs dominated net play, scoring several of their early points on blocks, tips and kills in tight. Much like the first three sets, the Bold battled back remaining competitive as the set wore on. However, once again, defensive miscues allowed for Western to pull away, stretching their lead to 17-10 at one point. The Mustangs would not look back, closing out the Bold with a 25-15 fourth set victory. 

The Bold are back in action Saturday night, looking for revenge against Western as they look to earn their first win of the calendar year.