Bold fall to Gryphons in season finale

GUELPH, Ont. – The TMU Bold men’s volleyball wrapped up their season with a four set loss to Guelph on Saturday night. The loss, the Bold’s sixth straight, puts TMU at 8-16 on the season. With a large majority of key players returning next season, the Bold will look to improve on their 11th place finish in the OUA this year.

After a disappointing performance last night, where the Bold were unable to establish a lead at any point during the three set loss, TMU began the first set in tonight’s contest strong. They would keep pace with the Gryphons early, a key for head coach Niko Rukavina‘s side. The Bold would hold a slight 9-8 lead after the first seventeen points of the set, scoring a big point on first-year Vilnis Baze’s block. Service errors by Guelph would further help the Bold cause, however, the Gryphons hit at a significantly higher clip than TMU to help keep pace. The Gryphons would pull away in the set, as the Bold managed just a .154 hitting percentage in the set, taking it by a score of 25-21.

The second set again started very even, with Guelph unable to immediately continue their momentum from the first set. The Bold would win the race to eight, holding an 8-6 advantage through the early stages of the set. Despite early struggles hitting the ball, the Bold turned things around and were able to maintain a lead as the second set progressed. Lyam Krapp played a big role in building the Bold lead, recording two kills in the set. As a result, the Bold would capture the set 25-21, leveling the score at one set a piece.

The Bold would establish another early lead in the third set, an impressive turnaround after dropping the first four sets of the weekend series against Guelph. Three more kills by Krapp helped pave the way for a 4-1 TMU run that saw their set lead grow to 12-8. Attacking errors would once again creep up on the Bold, however, allowing Guelph to climb back into the set. The Gryphons would tie things at 17 before taking the lead with an impressive kill. The Gryphons would carry this lead to another 25-21 set win.

Needing a set win to extend their season in the fourth, the Bold once again found themselves with an early lead. The Bold would continue to get big contributions from Krapp, who finished with 24 total kills throughout the contest. The Gryphons would eventually level things at 11 in the set. From there, the teams traded points with neither side able to grab a firm control on the set. The Gryphons would be the first to establish a multi-point lead, as a result of multiple TMU attacking errors, a common theme in tonight’s matchup. With this lead, the Gryphons were able to coast to a 25-21 set win and a 3-1 victory.