Having to battle the No. 2 Brock Badgers for a second straight night, the Varsity Blues put in a strong effort, but ultimately fell short 3-1 (16-25, 14-25, 25-18, 17-25) Saturday night at the Goldring Centre in the team’s final OUA contest of 2022.
HOW IT HAPPENED: For the second consecutive night, the defending OUA champions showed was makes them so difficult, attacking the Blues from the opening rally. The Badgers quickly established a 7-2 lead over Toronto in the first set and never looked back. Maintaining the lead throughout, Brock took the first set 25-16.
Trying to even the match, the Blues were unable to find the answer to the continued pressure from the Badgers. Brock, again, quickly went out in front, this time to the tune of an 11-2 advantage. The Badgers would ultimately go on to win the set 25-14.
Despite trailing 2-0 in the match, Toronto continued to battle. Finding their groove in the third, the Blues began to take the game to the number two ranked team in the country. Using their attack on offense and desire on defence, the Blues took a three-point lead early in the set, before extending it to 14-7. Toronto would later build up the advantage to as much as nine, and eventually win the set 25-18.
Looking to use that momentum in the fourth, the Blues continued to go rally for rally with the Badgers. Trailing just 15-13 midway through the set, the Blues were able to keep themselves in striking distance. However, the Badgers were able to establish control from that point 10 of the next 14 points to take the set 25-17.
UP NEXT: The Blues head into their December break. Toronto will return to the court in 2023 with an exhibition match against TMU on January 3rd. They will resume their OUA schedule on January 7th, when they host the Guelph Gryphons.