Markotic delivers career-high 18 kills in Brock’s five-set win over Windsor

The newly crowned No. 2 team in the country delivered a thrilling five-set win (25-20, 25-16, 24-26, 23-25, 15-10) over the Windsor Lancers on Friday, Jan. 19 in Windsor.  

Fourth-year middle Gigi Markotic led the team for the second game in a row, earning a match-high 22 points off of 18 kills, one service ace and three blocks. Fifth-year setter Sara Rohr continues to be a top setter in the country, delivering 33 assists in the contest. The Milton product is second in U SPORTS with 10.34 assists per set. Veteran libero Aleiah Torres anchored the defence with 22 digs.  

Windsor got out to an 8-5 lead, forcing Brock’s first timeout. In a change of momentum, Brock scored five unanswered to make it 11-10. A furious rally led to a massive Sadie Kick kill to tie things up at 15-15. From there, the Badgers controlled the set for the 25-20 win, with Brianne Whalen providing strong serving off the bench and Foest delivering a team-high five kills. 

Things were even throughout the early parts of the second set. Madison Tuck’s tough serve put Windsor in trouble, and Brock eventually finished off the rally for their first three-point lead of the set at 11-8. The lead ballooned to 18-11, as Brock took advantage of numerous Windsor attack errors. Brock’s sparkling .542 hitting percentage helped lead to a 25-14 set two victory.  

In the third set, the Lancers came out strong serving and attacking as they took a 12-9 lead. Brock head coach Steve Delaney called his first timeout of the set, which led to a tied contest a few points later at 14-14. Windsor took a late 23-20 lead before the Badgers showed resilience, tying it up at 23-23 off kills from Markotic and Lauren Ainsworth. The Lancers kept the match going, scoring the final two points to take the set 26-24. 

After being down early, the Badgers used the serving of Isabella Samadzadeh to go on a 4-1 run, where they took a 12-10 lead. Windsor kept pushing the visitors with the score getting tied at 20-20. A couple of hitting errors from Brock gave Windsor a thin separation at 24-22, forcing a timeout from Delaney. The fourth set went the way of the Lancers 25-23.

Foest’s 12th kill gave the Badgers a 6-3 lead in the final frame, forcing Windsor to regroup with a timeout. Windsor did not go away, as they brought it to within one multiple times. Another Foest kill gave the Badgers an 11-8 lead, causing Windsor’s second timeout.  The Badgers continued their momentum to take the match, keeping their undefeated run going in 2024.  

Up next, the Badgers (12-1) take on the Lancers (2-9) for their second game of the weekend on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 4 p.m. Catch the game on OUA.tv.