Playoff Preview: Bold host Toronto in OUA quarter-final

TORONTO – Prior to the start of their 2023-24 season, all that the Bold women’s volleyball team wanted to be was a team capable of building a dynasty across the U SPORTS landscape. 

Nearly four months into that campaign and with postseason volleyball right around the corner, the Bold appear more like a team convinced they’re on the verge of becoming something big rather than one continuing to harp on aging competence and capability. 

“We’re very excited with the squad we have this year and we think we can do some really good things in the playoffs,” mentioned fifth-year Lauren Veltman ahead of her side’s 2024 playoff debut. 

Wrapping up their campaign with a 15-5 record and surging to the top half of the league standings on a seven-game win streak, the Bold will look to put their championship aspirations into gear with a quarter-final victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday. 

The Bold have not hosted a postseason contest since 2020 and used their two-game sweep over the Guelph Gryphons last weekend to secure home court advantage over their city rivals. 

TMU will open their quest for an OUA and U SPORTS title with the task of taking down one of the league’s hottest sides. The Varsity Blues enter the postseason winners of six straight and have dropped just three sets during their torrid end to the season. 

Likewise, the Bold shared similar success to their rivals in the closing stages of the year, dominating the month of February with a perfect 7-0 record that featured a pair of sweeps over teams in playoff position. 

Toronto’s Olivia Zhu poses the greatest challenge to the Bold defence heading into Saturday’s matchup. The outside hitter led the league in kills (292) and finished third in the OUA in kills per set behind her teammate, Julia Murmann. 

TMU’s libero Mary Rioflorido will have her hands full in keeping the league’s kill leader at bay during what many on the Bold anticipate to be a laborious opening contest to the postseason. 

On the other side of the ball, the Bold are projected to line up veterans Veltman, Scarlett Gingera and Ashley Ditchfield to help combat Toronto’s individual talent at the net. 

All three are entering Saturday’s pivotal matchup in peak form and have played an integral role in thrusting the Bold closer to the top of the playoff picture in recent weeks. 

Julie Gordon has also provided the blue and gold with an extra layer of attack along the length of the court and averaged nearly ten kills per game during TMU’s perfect month of February. 

Gordon – a native of Barrie, Ontario – joined the Bold at the start of the winter semester and has brought a dose of experience onto TMU’s side of the court. 

Head coach of the Bold, Dustin Reid, praised the play of his newest addition during his side’s most dominant stretch of the season and believes the fourth-year has rapidly become the straw that stirs TMU’s drink with playoff action looming.

“We have a great mixture of players who played in the league a long time and players who emerged in the league this year as stars. That energy, experience, and the mix of the two is really great,” said Reid. 

Gordon’s leadership will be matched on the sidelines by TMU’s captain Britney Veltman. The fourth-year middle is projected to be on the bench for the Bold’s opening playoff match against the Varsity Blues after tweaking her injured knee during a practice session in the final weeks of the regular season.

Even while the Bold prepare for their initial postseason contest without the on-court input of their captain, the group continues to remain confident that the foundation of their dynasty can be built this weekend. 

TMU have yet to come out on top of a playoff contest since their national championship run in 2019 and are winless in their last two appearances in the OUA quarter-final. 

The Bold were bounced out of the first round of last year’s playoffs after suffering a 3-1 defeat to the Waterloo Warriors. 

The group last played a postseason game against the Varsity Blues in March of 2019. 

“We are going to see our toughest opponents and toughest style of volleyball ahead,” said Reid. 

First serve flies from the MAC on Saturday at 6 p.m.