Brock’s women’s volleyball completed the three-peat on March 8th, taking home the 2024 Quigley Cup on International Women’s Day.
After losing the first set, the Badgers took down the third-ranked McMaster Marauders 3-1 in front of 700 fans at the Bob Davis Gymnasium.
Despite a few lead changes, set one was dead even with both sides performing well from the outset. A kill by Emily Foest opened the scoring for the Badgers who held that slim lead throughout the first half of the set. However, the Marauders’ determination was on full display, tying the score 12 times before going on a run to take a more secure lead. Capitalizing on three Badger errors, McMaster went on a critical 4-0 run to put them ahead 20-17. Brock was soon able to trim that advantage to only one, but the Marauders again pulled away, winning set one 22-25.
In set two, it was McMaster’s turn to break the ice, but two errors and two aces from Badger Laurin Ainsworth put Brock right back in the driver’s seat, up 4-1. Again demonstrating their poise, the Marauders never let the Badgers build on their three-point advantage and eventually churned out a four-point run of their own, taking a 13-14 lead over Brock.
The Badgers would make sure McMaster’s reversal was short-lived.
Brock immediately responded with a 2-0 run to restore their lead and, shortly after, followed that up with a three-point run, extending their lead to 20-17 and forcing the Marauders into an uphill battle. Another three-point run by the Badgers only a few points later only cemented their advantage. Now up 24-20, Brock closed out the set with a block from Gigi Markotic to level the game 1-1.
While the first two sets had seen two evenly matched opponents duking it out, in set three, McMaster did a lot of Brock’s work for them. The Badgers jumped out to an 8-2 lead, four points coming off kills from Ainsworth, Sadie Dick and Madison Chimienti while the other four all came off Marauder errors.
McMaster managed to clean up their play a degree and were able to work their way back into a much more manageable two-point deficit. However, the Marauders just as quickly succumbed to a crippling seven-point run by the Badgers. Several Badgers were instrumental in the scoring surge, with Markotic recording two blocks and a kill and Chimienti and Dick each putting up two kills and a block over that span.
Now down 20-11 and not willing to be counted out, the Marauders put together an impressive scoring stretch, outscoring Brock 9-2 and cutting their lead down to only 22-20. Nevertheless, the Badgers managed to halt McMaster’s momentum in its tracks. Brock scored three of the final four points to win 25-21 in a set that suddenly became a nailbiter out of nowhere.
After struggling to maintain their discipline at the net through three sets, the Badgers put everything together in a dominant fourth set.
Brock fell into an early 1-3 hole but, following that, had an answer for everything the Marauders threw their way, instantly responding with a cataclysmic 9-0 run. Though there were chances for McMaster to get back into the set, they were again their own worst enemy. For the second set in a row, the Marauders committed nine errors while Brock was perfect at the net with 11 kills and zero errors on 24 attempts. Down 22-15, McMaster fizzled out at the finish, committing three more errors and losing 25-16, delivering Brock the provincial championship.
All of Brock’s big guns came to play in their final OUA game of the year. Dick led the team with 15 kills and also had six blocks.
While Chimienti was the only other Badger to hit double-digits in kills (10), Markotic fell just shy with nine while converting on a third of her attempts. Markotic also led the game with an impressive nine blocks.
As per usual, Sara Rohr did an excellent job on both sides of the ball, dictating the offence with a game-high 42 assists while also leading the way with a game-high 15 digs.
This caps off a tremendous week for many Badgers, especially Rohr. On March 4th, Rohr was named the OUA’s Player of the Year, sharing the award with Queens’ Hannah Duchesneau.
Rohr, Foest and Markotic (who also finished fourth in the country in hitting percentage) were all named to the OUA’s First All-Star Team while Dick was selected to the Second Team. Freshman middle Emma Baruchelli was also named to the OUA All-Rookie Team.
This star-studded cast heads to Hamilton next weekend for the U-Sports quarter-final on March 15th with their opponent yet to be determined.
For updates and the teams’ full schedule, visit gobadgers.ca.