Badgers rally to win first playoff game in program history

The Badgers rallied in the fourth set to overcome the Western Mustangs 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 24-26, 25-23) in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarter-final match at Bob Davis Gymnasium on Saturday, March 12.

The hometown crowd echoed chants of ‘Let’s Go Badgers’ as they blew up with excitement when senior outside hitter Logan House made the final kill.

Among the fans were the original team members from when the program was reinstated in 2016.

“Winning this game means so much for the program. It was great a moment for our sport and a sign of where it’s headed and a signal of how far we’ve come,” said head coach Matt Ragogna. “Our goal is to have a shot a medal. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

The Badgers advance to the OUA semifinal on Wednesday, March 16 where they will square off against the winner of McMaster and Windsor.

House notched a game-high 21 kills on 45 swings (.378). He added three service aces and eight digs. Second-year outside hitter Salius Lianga contributed a season-high 15 kills, including 11 digs.

Second-year setter Grant Reddon kept the offence humming with 48 assists.

“It still hasn’t fully processed what we just did. This playoff win is a testament to hard everyone has worked over the past six years,” House said. “We’re working our tails off every day, trying to be better in order to achieve our goals. It’s a pretty special group we have here.”

In the first set, House scored four kills as Brock and Western traded points right down to the wire. Saulius Lianga, Mark Naqvi and Jacob Ferland each registered successful kills to seal the deal for the Badgers, who outshone the Mustangs in hitting percentage (.323)

Brock hit for 13-4-26 (.346) to walk away with the second set before Western rallied to score four points in order to come back and capture the third.

The fourth featured an incredible comeback by Brock as they dug themselves out from a 13-5 deficit

“They battled. We should have closed that third set out, but they fought well in the fourth to come back,” Ragogna said. “It came down to the wire.”