BLUES SET TO HOST PLAYOFF TRIPLE-HEADER

Playoff time is about to be in full swing at the University of Toronto.

This Saturday (March 12) the U of T campus will feature no shortage of post-season action with three different Varsity Blues teams hosting an OUA quarter-final.

Varsity Blues women’s volleyball, women’s hockey and men’s volleyball all finished on top of their respective divisions during the regular season and now have their sights set on making a playoff run that goes well into March.

First up on Saturday will be the No. 2 Blues women’s volleyball team. Taking to the court at Goldring at 6:00 p.m., following the completion of an undefeated regular season, Toronto will play host to the Nipissing Lakers, who defeated the Trent Excalibur in a play-in game on March 9.

The Blues and Lakers are quite familiar with each other having just played each other twice less than a week ago. Sweeping both matches, Toronto put forth two solid performances against Nipissing. The Blues will now do their best to repeat that result in their quarterfinal.

Just across the street, the No. 1 Varsity Blues women’s hockey team will be hitting the ice at Varsity Arena at 7:00 p.m. Having not dropped a single game in regulation so far in the 2021-22 season, the Blues will look to continue their incredible play when they host the Queen’s Gaels. The team from Kingston earned the right to take on the Blues when they defeated the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks on March 9.

Looking to host, and win a second straight McCaw Cup, Toronto will have home-ice advantage throughout their playoff run. The Blues and Gaels have not squared off against each other since November of 2021, however, in the second of their two meetings, Queen’s did hand Toronto one of their only two post-regulation losses. The Varsity Blues won the first meeting between the two 4-1, before falling the next night in a shoot-out 2-1.

Rounding out a jam-packed Saturday evening, the No. 4 Varsity Blues men’s volleyball team will host the Rams at Goldring Centre, with the match set to get underway at 8:00 p.m. After dropping their opening match of the season, the Blues have been on fire ever since winning 11 straight matches.

Taking on a Rams squad that defeated RMC in the play-in game, Toronto went undefeated against the Rams this season, winning all three of their matches. However, each match got progressively closer. The Blues swept the first one, before dropping a set in the second contest. They then went the distance with the Rams in their most recent match-up back on February 19. Much like their women counterparts, the men’s team is also ranked first in their division and will look to use that home court advantage to help propel them to the Forsyth Cup.

Don’t forget to check in at the game on the Varsity Blues app! The Varsity Blues app includes the very popular Varsity Rewards program, which is accessible to all Varsity Blues fans, not just students. Sign up, come to games, earn points and get free swag, giveaways, exclusive offers and so much more. The app is available now and can be downloaded for free on the App Store or on Google Play.

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