The Varsity Blues continued their strong start to the season Saturday evening at the Goldring Centre. Playing host to the Waterloo Warriors for the second time in seven days, the Blues went on to defeat Waterloo 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 18-25, 25-22).
HOW IT HAPPENED: Wasting no time whatsoever, Toronto got off to a fast start with five early kills to take a 7-2 lead. All through the opening set, the team continued keep that distance between themselves and the Warriors before taking the set 25-18.
Nearly a carbon copy of the first set, the second featured the same path to victory for the Varsity Blues. Again, Toronto was able to establish control early, this time building up a 10-6 advantage. From there, they would once again keep a healthy lead the rest of the way, securing the set by the same score of 25-18.
Looking to sweep the Warriors, Toronto was not able to establish that early control this time around. Instead, the two teams went back and forth for much of the set. Tied 9-9, neither side was able to separate by more than a point. That was until, Waterloo flipped the script on Toronto. Leading 15-14, the Warriors extended that to 21-15, before forcing a fourth set, 25-18.
After Waterloo’s women’s team was able to force a deciding fifth-set just a couple of hours prior, despite trailing 2-0, the men were looking to do the same. However, despite the set staying close throughout, Toronto was able to hold the lead for much of it. Up 21-20 in the late stages, the Blues went on the attack. After forcing three Waterloo errors, Evan Falardeau then smashed the win kill, over-powering the Warrior’s block to win the set 25-22, and the match 3-1.
Falardeau led the way for the Blues with 17 kills and 20.5 points. Also playing a key role for the Blues was Benedikt Licht, who finished the night with 15 points. Davis Young finished with a game-high 43 assists.
UP NEXT: The Blues will now round out the 2022 portion of their schedule with a pair of weekend games against the Brock Badgers, both at home. The two teams will first meet at 4:00 p.m. on December 2.