The Badgers’ men’s volleyball team remains undefeated by improving to 4-0 after beating the TMU Bold 3-0 on Friday and 3-1 on Saturday.
In Friday’s home opener, Brock pulled away with the back-and-forth first set after four combined kills by Sauli Lianga, Devin Cooney and Jacob Ferland to close the first and put TMU on the brink of dropping the set. On set point, Cooney and Spencer Nelson combined for a crucial block which gave the Badgers the 25-23 first set victory.
Momentum from the dramatic first set win carried into the second set as it was the Badgers’ best set in the match.
Brock had 14 kills in the set, while only registering two attacking errors on 19 total attempts accounting for a .632 attacking percentage. Conversely, the second set was the worst set statistically for the Bold. TMU only had five kills while playing sloppy volleyball, committing five attacking errors, which handed Brock the 25-17 win.
With the chance to close out the game in the third, Brock amped up the intensity, but so did the Bold trying to avoid defeat.
The Bold recorded a game-high 16 kills in the set; none were bigger than Day Westell’s kill facing match point to tie it up at 25. With the set extended, Lianga recorded his sixth kill of the match – the Badgers’ 41st kill in the game – to force Brock’s second match point. On the ensuing play, TMU committed their 14th attack error of the match, which gave Brock the 27-25 victory for their third consecutive win to open the season.
Eager to avenge their loss, TMU came out and dominated the opening set in Saturday’s matchup.
The Bold had 13 kills in the set – the most they had in any set this game – while only committing three attack errors. On the Badgers’ side of the net, everything went wrong as Brock had seven attacking errors in the set, leading TMU to the 25-19 first set win.
However, the script quickly flipped to begin the second set.
Brock had an early 5-1 lead, in large part due to TMU errors, Brock kills and an ace by Lianga. Kersey Robinson, third-year outside hitter for Brock, greatly contributed as well, recording seven of his team-high 14 kills in the set leading the home side back in the game with their own 25-19 victory.
With the game nodded at a set apiece, both teams struggled to place the ball in the third set. The teams combined for 16 attacking errors in the set – nine for TMU and seven for Brock – as the set came down to the wire.
With the score 27-26 in favour of Brock, Nolan Shapcott placed one of his game-high 42 assists on a platter that Lianga spiked down for the pivotal third set win.
In the fourth, Brock showcased their superiority with 16 kills, as all six Badger players recorded a kill in the set. The Badgers – Robinson, N. Shapcott and Alex Shapcott – added three of their seven service aces in the final set to claim their fourth straight victory with the 25-21 set win.
Next up for the Badgers is a huge weekend set in Kingston against the undefeated Queen’s Gaels (4-0) who have only dropped one set all season. The games can be streamed for free on oua.tv. Head to gobadgers.ca for more information about the Badgers’ men’s volleyball team.