Foest leads No. 2 Badgers to ninth consecutive home victory

The No. 2 nationally ranked Brock Badgers improved to a perfect 9-0 at Bob Davis Gymnasium on Saturday, Feb. 10, beating the visiting Waterloo Warriors 3-1 (25-16, 25-27, 25-18, 25-20). 

Third-year outside hitter Emily Foest led the Badgers with 20.5 points off 19 kills, one ace and one block assist, while adding 11 digs. The Brock Badgers commanded all of the major statistics for the game, as Sara Rohr finished with 52 assists, Gigi Markotic notched 5.0 blocks and Aleiah Torres earned 18 digs; all respective game-highs.

After a tight start to the matchup, Brock was the team to create an advantage for themselves with an 8-0 run. Clinical serving from Rohr, including her first ace on the night forced a Waterloo timeout. Following the break, the Warriors got couple points back before the Badgers established their strong lead again at 16-9, forcing another timeout. The back-and-forth scoring continued but Waterloo struggled to overcome the early deficit established by Brock, and Foest put the finishing touch with her third kill of the set following a long rally, to take it 25-16. 

The Badgers continued their strong play to start the second set, getting out to an early 7-2 lead, resulting in a Warriors timeout. Much like the first set, Brock was able to continue firing and building onto their lead following the break. An overturned out of bounds call sparked a momentum swing in favour of Waterloo, as they went on their own 7-2 run to bring the game within two points, resulting in Brock’s first timeout of the match. Markotic sent a ball straight down through the double block for her second kill of the frame to give the Badgers a 20-17 lead, forcing another Warriors timeout. Waterloo came back strong, bringing the game back even at 25-25. A kill for Waterloo and a Brock attack error saw the Warriors take the second set 27-25. 

Brock was once again the first team to find an edge in the set, getting out to a 13-8 early lead off the back of two huge kills from Madison Chimienti and Sadie Dick. From there, the Badgers kept their momentum going resulting in another Warriors’ timeout as Brock led 21-16. The timeout did little to sway the Badgers’ momentum as Dick sent the ball straight down from the outside for her third kill of the set to give Brock the 25-18 win.

Waterloo got out to an early 5-2 lead, but it didn’t take long for the momentum to shift thanks to Foest, who notched five straight kills to give Brock the edge. The Warriors battled back into the game, bringing it to a two-point Badgers lead, forcing the Brock timeout at 15-13. Out of the timeout, Waterloo brought the game even, but yet again, the Badgers were able to pull away. Multiple late timeouts were called by Waterloo to try and take back the lead, but Foest’s first ace of the game put an end to those hopes as the Badgers took the set 25-20 and the game.

Up next, the No. 2 Badgers (17-2) will defend home court again on Friday, Feb. 16, in a rematch with the visiting Waterloo Warriors (10-9). First serve is at 6 p.m. After the contest, the graduating senior members of the team will be honoured in a post-game ceremony. You can purchase your tickets at https://brocku.universitytickets.com. The game can also be seen on OUA.tv.