Madison Chimienti’s 15 kills and Emily Foest’s game-high 17 led the nationally ranked Brock Badgers to some history on Friday, Nov. 10, defeating the TMU Bold 3-1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-18, 25-23) for the first time in program history.
In the first set, the Bold shook off the shaky start to eventually take a 15-13 advantage, causing Brock’s first timeout.
Chimienti led the way for the Badgers in the set with five kills, notching two straight to narrow the lead just down to one at 18-17.
Brianne Whalen, a first-year defensive specialist, came off the bench and went on a large serving run, forcing two TMU timeouts. The Badgers used strong attacking to finish the set, winning 25-21.
In the second set, Lauren Veltman’s one of five kills in the set enlarged TMU’s lead to 15-10.
Brock’s nine attack errors compared to TMU’s zero was a difference too difficult to overcome as the TMU side took the second set 25-18.
Strong serving from Chimienti and Madison Tuck, who came off the bench, gave the Badgers an early 8-3 lead.
The Badgers doubled up the Bold 12-6 but the Bold did not go quietly, chipping away and bringing the lead as close to two multiple times.
As the fourth set progressed, the Bold took a lead as large as 20-15, putting Brock on their heels.
The Badgers showed their resilience, not giving up and pushing the lead just down to one after four straight kills, forcing a TMU timeout and eventually taking the lead.
A great final rally went the way of Brock, with senior libero Aleiah Torres making a big defensive play to keep things alive which was followed by the tenth kill from Markotic to end the fourth set 25-18. Foest powered the Badgers in the set with six kills.
Veteran setter Sarah Rohr dished out 54 assists and Torres had a team-high 11 digs.
Up next, the Badgers (3-0) return for a rematch against this same TMU Bold team (2-2) tomorrow on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 4 p.m.