TORONTO – After a five set marathon match last night, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s volleyball team needed just three sets to sweep the York Lions on Saturday, putting up a memorable defensive display to shut down the red and white.
Jacob Walker led the attack for the Bold, putting together 15 kills to help steer his side to victory. TMU would only allow the Lions to rally three-consecutive points just once in the match, putting an exclamation mark on a definitive defensive showing.
“The boys were really fired up… I think we brought the energy for sure,” said interim head coach of the Bold, Niko Rukavina.
The Bold entered the match with the clear-cut edge on the attack, seeing that Lions’ Josh Fadare – who ranks second in the OUA in both kills and kills per set – would be held out due to an injury sustained in his side’s five-set win over the Bold last night.
Rukavina believes the absence of the Lions star attacker made life on the right side of the court much easier for his team, particularly within his punctual block defence.
As a result, TMU wasted no time in finding their offensive game as Walker began to slam down kills off the hop. The second-year would be a leading force in the Bold’s second four-point run of the set, teaming up with the dominant play of Saad Shaikh to help pave the way towards TMU’s 25-13 set victory.
The home side’s strong defensive play spilled into the middle stanza as well, with Omari Young and Nicholas Hudson highlighting the front end of the set with an enthusiastic block to give their side a five-point lead over the Lions.
Third-year Alex King helped seal the deal for the Bold’s second-set win by throwing down kills from all areas of the court. His dominant middle frame would be highlighted by his third kill that saw the Ottawa native handcuff Lions’ Anders Say and electrify the home crowd.
“It’s the other Toronto team. It definitely adds some more motivation,” said King who recorded a season-high 24 kills against the Lions last night.
Walker would go on to record half a dozen more kills in the set to lead the Bold to a 25-19 set win and push the Lions to the brink.
With their backs against the wall, York began to settle in and make the third set much closer than the preceding pair. The visitors would sit tied with the Bold numerous times throughout the set and even picked up their first lead of the match midway through.
Despite the pushback, Shaikh and Walker continued to complement each other’s play and decimated the Lions hopes of a comeback. The two combined for three kills in the set, with Shaikh adding a big-time block to help close out the team’s straight-set win over their Toronto rivals.
“I thought we took care of business,” said Rukavina following the win.
Another strong outing on both ends of the ball will be needed in the Bold’s next matchup against the RMC Paladins. Following a bye week, TMU will kick off a two-game series with the Kingston side on Friday, January 27. First serve flies at 8 p.m.