Brock’s women’s volleyball team got off to a hot start to the season with four wins in their first four games, showing strong signs of building on last season’s massive success, if unfortunate end.
Brock dominated the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) in 2022-23, finishing with an 18-2 record, only losing twelve total sets throughout the entire regular season. Additionally, players Sara Rohr, Aleiah Torres, Sadie Dick and Grace Pyatt were all named OUA first-team all-stars while head coach Steve Delaney was named OUA coach of the year for the third year running.
In the OUA Quigley Cup playoffs, things weren’t much different with the Badgers dispensing of Windsor and York on the way to a thrilling comeback victory in the finals over Queen’s University.
Uncharacteristically and regrettably, Brock lost their U Sports quarterfinal match against the University of British Columbia 3-1 and subsequently lost the consolation semifinal against Mount Royal University, ending their season and shot at the National Championship.
Despite the tough exit, the Badgers had a number of returning players—including three of their four first-team all-stars—as well as coach Delaney.
Coming off three five-set victories in the McMaster Thanksgiving Classic in early October[CR1], the Badgers opened the regular season with a double-header in Toronto against the York Lions beginning on Nov. 4th.
Brock came out of the gate firing, recording five points straight, but it wouldn’t take the Lions long to get back into the game, knotting the score at seven. The set remained tight from there with the sides trading points, tying the game at 11, then at 16 and again at 19.
After going up 20-19, York got a hold of the set, taking it 25-21.
Despite dropping the first set of the regular season, the Badgers came right back to respond. Though the early stages of set two were close, Brock started to pull away up 12-7. The Badgers more-or-less held that five-point lead from there on out, winning set two 25-18.
Set three played out similarly with both squads staying neck-in-neck until Brock was able to extend a 13-12 lead into a 19-12 advantage and, eventually, a 25-15 set win.
Though York held on for a time, Brock quickly separated themselves from the Lions, taking a tight 7-7 set to a lopsided 19-11 advantage. Madison Chimienti closed out game one with a kill off an assist coming from Sara Rohr.
Chimienti was all over the scorer’s sheet on the 4th, recording 11 kills, two aces, two assists and a match-leading 15 digs.
Set one of game two on Nov. 5th saw Brock take an early lead and run with it, not surrendering their margin since the game was tied 4-4. The Badgers claimed the first set by a decisive 25-15.
In set two, York quickly went up 3-1 and battled to hold their advantage throughout the set. Brock fought just as hard to overcome their deficit, tying the set at 14. That was the closest the Badgers would come in the second set. Though they made it close, fighting back from 15-19 to 20-21, the Lions squeaked out a set two victory 23-25 thanks to a kill by York centre Amarai Endes.
Set three was just as much of a tightly fought affair, though not all the way through.
The Badgers took a commanding lead, going up 16-8 before blowing the eight-point spread to go down 22-23.
Despite York’s surge, the Badgers were able to fend off the Lions comeback in an extended set, winning by a slim 28-26.
The final set was much more in the Badgers’ favour.
Brock took off with a 9-3 scoring run to lead the Lions 17-12. The Badgers wrapped up the two-game sweep of York with a 25-19 victory.
Outside hitter Meera Sayal, seeing an increased role this season, was impactful in the first weekend, particularly in game two where she led the Badgers in kills (12), aces (2) and blocks. Emily Foest and Aleiah Torres also looked strong, recording double-digit kills and digs in the two respective matches. Sara Rohr led all players in assists in both matches with 46 and 40.
On Nov. 10th, the Badgers returned to Brock to face the TMU Bold in their two home-opening games.
The Bold were fresh off of two games against the Windsor Lancers, handing them two losses in seven total sets.
The Bold picked up right where they left off, jumping to an early 5-2 lead over the Badgers in the first set. Brock was able to tie the set at six, and the score remained within two virtually the entire set. The Badgers were able to string together six straight points to reverse an 18-15 deficit to a 21-18 advantage, forcing a Bold timeout. Though TMU added two more points post timeout, the Badgers took care of business, winning the first set just the same.
Set two posed many more difficulties for the Badgers.
The score stayed close initially, but the Bold started to pull away, turning a 9-9 deadlock into a massive 19-13 margin with Brock making several attacking errors and struggling to deal with TMU’s blocking. The Bold outscored the Badgers 6-5 the rest of the way, taking set two 25-18.
In the third set, it was the Badgers’ turn to take over early. Brock went on a scoring run from the outset and quickly found themselves up by a sizeable 12-6 margin thanks to some extended serving runs from Chimienti and Madison Tuck, and a couple high-powered kills from Gigi Markotic.
Brock nearly surrendered the lead minutes later when the Bold brought the score within two at 16-14. However, some steady play helped them right the ship and bring the lead back to seven by the end of the set, with Markotic and Sayal punching in two straight kills to win it 25-18.
After a game of a bunch of close calls for Brock, set four was by far the closest.
The score almost never deviated from a one-point difference, but after going up 7-6, it was the Bold who were in the driver’s seat. TMU started to stretch their lead, eventually getting it as large as 20-15.
Nonetheless, the Badgers maintained their composure, going on a 7-1 scoring run to regain the lead at 22-21. The Bold stayed hot on their tail until the end, but Markotic and Foest were able to close things out with two more kills.
After four close sets, the Badgers were able to scrape out a 3-1 victory, despite giving up 34 errors to TMU’s 11 and committing more errors in each of the four quarters.
Foest led the match with 18 kills, while Sara Rohr contributed all over the scoresheet with two aces, 10 digs and 54 assists.
In Saturday’s game two matchup, Brock had a much easier time with the Bold.
In set one, the Badgers led early and by a lot, going up 10-3. TMU clawed their way back, making it as close as 17-17, but Brock finished the set with an 8-2 scoring run to polish off the set 25-19.
Set two was the closest of the weekend. After the two sides tied the set at 6-6, their separation was only greater than a point four times in the entire set. Despite the closeness, the Badgers were able to secure the set 25-23.
By set three, things were pretty much wrapped up. The Badgers recorded only three errors to 15 kills, washing away the Bold 25-17. The Badgers led the match in all facets, including recording eight aces and five blocks.
Brock got contributions from several players. Markotic and Foest both had great all-around performances, with Markotic recording seven kills, two aces and three blocks, while Foest chipped in with seven kills, two blocks and 11 digs. Mackenna Knox’s three aces and 31 assists led all players, also grabbing eight digs for good measure. Sadie Dick’s 12 kills led all players.
The Badgers play two more games next weekend at Queen’s University on Nov. 18th and 19th. For more information on their schedule and results, check out gobadgers.ca.
