The Brock Badgers women’s volleyball team thrilled the packed Bob Davis Gymnasium crowd with a 3-2 comeback win (16-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-13, 15-6) on Friday, Mar. 1.
With the loss from the Queen’s Gaels to the McMaster Marauders in the other semifinal, the Badgers have booked their ticket to the U SPORTS Championship in Hamilton from Friday, March 15 to Sunday, March 17.
Junior outside hitter Emily Foest led the Brock attack with 14 kills and added two service aces and one block to finish with 17 points. Fellow outside hitter Laurin Ainsworth poured in 11 kills of her own. Fifth-year setter Sara Rohr delivered a match-high 44 assists and Foest powered the defence with 18 digs.
“We didn’t play well in the first two sets. I think the nerves got the better of us and we weren’t dialed in on our serve receive,” said head coach Steve Delaney. “Once that calmed down, it helped. It was a gutsy win for us.”
The Bold took a four-point advantage at 14-10 in the first set off back-to-back kills from Mikayla Sheriffs. The lead expanded to as large as eight at 19-11, and the Badgers had to call a second timeout. TMU’s .406 hitting percentage led them to a 25-16 first set win.
Looking to reverse what happened in the first set, the Badgers came out to a 4-1 advantage off the serving of Ainsworth. From there, the Bold crept back in and eventually took the lead back, opening a four-point advantage at 11-7 off the hitting of Julie Gordon. The Badgers burned their first timeout down 17-12 but were unable to stop the Bold’s momentum as the visitors took the set by the same score as the first.
Gigi Markotic’s fourth kill of the match brought the Badgers a 6-2 lead in the third, causing TMU to call a timeout early. This helped reverse the visitor’s fortunes as Gordon’s strong attacking and a block brought TMU up 15-12, leading to Brock calling a timeout. Facing elimination, the Badgers preserved after a long rally as Ainsworth’s kill got the crowd off their feet. The Badgers took the set two points later to win it 25-22. A key momentum shift for Brock was Delaney switching senior Meera Sayal off the bench to play in the middle while Ainsworth switched to the outside.
“We put Meera in the middle because she is a senior and has been in tough moments. We needed a momentum swing, and I knew anything she did would bring the team energy up,” said Delaney. “Laurin got the job done for us out there. It was a crazy scenario and it worked out for our team.
The lead for the Badgers swelled in the fourth set as Markotic put pressure on the TMU defence with strong serving. TMU called their second timeout of the set down 15-7 to try and stem the tide. It was all Brock from there, taking advantage of 11 attacking errors from the visitors to win the set 25-13.
In the fifth and deciding set, Sadie Dick’s block stuffed the TMU attack to bring Brock up 4-1, forcing an early TMU timeout. Ainsworth’s service ace brought the Badgers to an 8-4 lead and the quick court switch. The aces kept coming for Ainsworth, leading to the second timeout from the visitors. The Badgers continued their pressure and completed the reverse sweep with a 15-6 fifth set win.
The No. 2 nationally ranked Badgers (18-2) will host their third straight Quigley Cup as they take on the McMaster Marauders (15-5) on Friday, Mar. 8 at 6 p.m. Tickets will be available for purchase on Monday at 10 a.m. at https://brocku.universitytickets.com/. The game can also be seen on OUA.tv.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login