TORONTO – The Toronto Metropolitan University Bold men’s volleyball team battled the neighbouring Toronto Varsity Blues in a tough match on home court at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC). The team played a strong four set game but were unable to find the win.
A handful of players debuted a new look on the court, a buzz cut.
“I was thinking about it, probably two weeks back, and then the guys talked me out of it. Couple weeks later, they’re like ‘still want a buzz cut?’,” said third-year Kai Higuchi. “Maybe we can get Niko [Rukavina] to do something at the end of the year,” he added.
The Bold kicked off the first set strong leading the Varsity Blues. The MAC was jam packed, with the crowd roaring in cheers for right side Alex King’s kill, bringing the score to 13-6. The bench got down on the ground, giving King a few celebratory pushups.
“It’s four actually, so every time we get an ace or a block they do two pushups,” said King. “It’s really just a motivation thing. It helps the guys on the court, also helps the guys on the bench get more engaged. Just a team thing we’ve been doing,” said King.
Outside hitter Lucas Yang’s dig paired with King’s hit pushed the ball to the Varsity Blues, but the visitors were too slow to retaliate. The blue and gold forced the Varsity Blues into a timeout.
Higuchi was a player the Varsity Blues needed to watch out for. Making back-to-back kills, he was a force in the night’s game.
Interim head coach, Niko Rukavina was seen cheering with a smile on his face throughout the team’s stellar first set efforts.
“I understand that players win and the guys are going to earn that win. My job is just to support and stay positive on the sidelines. We are a team that kind of has peaks and valleys so I try to stay calm and composed about it,” said Rukavina.
The Bold put an end to the first set with a 25-21 score.
The Bold seemed to have lost a bit of the momentum after changing sides of the court in the second set. The team was down 11-3 but the urge to make a comeback was visible.
Yang ran off the court to successfully keep the ball in play, but it wasn’t enough for them to earn a point.
With a tip of the ball, King earned the team another kill. A faulty serve from the Varsity Blues brought the Bold up to 19-12, but it wasn’t enough to surpass the visitors.
At what seemed to be the speed of lightning, Higuchi brought the team to another kill. The Bold started to close the gap, but at what were two set points for the Varsity Blues, rookie Vilnis Baze and Higuchi made the Varsity Blues wait for a set win, making two kills.
“Excited to see guys like Vilnis be on the court and get some points, so that’s why I was happy,” added Rukavina.
Third time’s a charm for the visitors as they finally secured the second set, 25-17.
A third set tied score was brought to an early end when third-year Ben Davey took to the court, bringing the Bold up 4-3.
Higuchi was leading both teams with 13 points and 12 kills in the third set. After his twelfth kill, the crowd and squad couldn’t be happier with his performance. Rukavina and outside hitter Nick Hudson were seen on the side with smiles that couldn’t be wiped off their faces.
Davey’s block and King’s kill brought the bench to the ground once again to take two pushups for the block and four for the kill.
“We’re just kind of working on our connection every single game and just trying to improve. Sometimes it doesn’t click as good as others, tonight it clicked pretty good,” said King.
A tough third set winded down with the Bold trailing 25-23, but they were ready to bring the intensity back for a fourth.
Trying to push for a fifth set, the Bold took the first point of the set, followed quickly behind by the Varsity Blues.
A dig from setter Taylor Wenzel helped the Bold take another off the blue and white, but there was still a long way to go before they could claim the win.
Although the Varsity Blues were playing a tough game, the Bold knew how to comeback and play a game just as strong.
Battling it out, with the blink of an eye, the score was 24-22 for the Varsity Blues before they took a final timeout.
Fighting out the final few points, the Toronto teams ended the game at 25-23 for the visitors. The Bold fought hard against their neighbours but were unable to secure the victory at home.
Despite the tough loss, the team has many takeaways from the game, one important factor being the crowd.
“I was really happy with the energy today,” said Higuchi. “It was really good to see a bunch of TMU fans out here and we could feel the energy. Hopefully it’s like that for the last three games of the semester because we’re still shooting for a playoff spot,” added the third-year.
The squad doesn’t get a break as they head into their rematch against the Varsity Blues on Saturday. The first serve flies on home court at 8 p.m.
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