Ending 2023 7-1 and on a three-game winning streak, Brock’s women’s volleyball team was hoping to continue their phenomenal start to the season and, with the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins as their first opponent, they’d have few better opportunities to do so.
On Jan. 6th the Badgers played RMC, who sit third-last in the OUA with an 0-7 record, having only won one set all year.
The Jan. 6th match was a head coach’s dream: a boring, one-sided affair.
RMC was in over their heads from the get-go.
Brock jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead and, for much of the set, maintained a lead of two-times the number of points the Paladins gained. It would take the Paladins scoring three straight while down 9-19 to buck this trend, but by then, it was far too late. The Badgers took set one 25-14.
Set two was even worse for the Paladins.
Brock secured an early 10-1 lead, a large margin they easily maintained and stretched as wide as 15 points.
That 15-point difference would stand as the final margin of victory in set two as RMC was collapsed 24-9 off a Madison Tuck ace.
In set three, the Paladins showed a little more life to open the set. Brock led with three points, but RMC held on for a time, behind only 4-3 and still in touch with the game.
That did not last.
After that, Brock’s offence exploded while the Paladins’ defence crumbled, scoring 21 points to RMC’s nine. Most of the Paladins’ points came after going down 17-5 when the Badgers’ victory was all but assured.
Brock ultimately secured the straight-set victory, winning 25-12.
The lone moral victory for RMC in the match was that they led in blocks, with four to Brock’s zero. In basically every other team category though, they got waxed.
Brock led 59 to 21 in points, 51-15 kills, 46-14 in assists and 34-22 in digs. On the individual side, Brock led in most every category. Sadie Dick led both teams with eight kills, while Sara Rohr led in both aces (three) and assists (24). Libero Aleiah Torres rounded out Brock’s individual performances with a game-high 11 digs.
The Paladins faced Brock again on Jan. 7th but found no recourse for their demoralizing defeat at the hands of the Badgers, losing in humiliating fashion again only a day later.
Set one of the Jan. 7th match was by far the best start for the Paladins of the weekend. Brock ran up the score 12-3 to open the match, but RMC clawed their way back to a respectable 16-12 deficit. It was all for naught though as the Badgers steamrolled the Paladins the rest of the way, scoring nine points to their two.
Set two was much less redeeming for RMC. The Paladins were able to keep pace for a short while—losing only 5-4—which was quickly erased by a 15-2 scoring run by the Badgers. RMC was able to scrounge up four more points while Brock cruised to an easy 25-10 set victory.
Like set three, RMC scored a few points to keep the set close in its early stages, including tying the game at four apiece. Brock, unperturbed, scored 13 straight points, effectively ending the game. In a futile effort, RMC outscored Brock 9-8 following the run but lost 25-13.
Brock mostly played their bench in the convincing victory, many of whom had strong individual performances.
Daryan Chadwick had six digs and two aces to go along with a game-high 10 kills. Mackenna Knox helped facilitate Brock’s offence with a game-high 29 assists in addition to four digs and a block. Madison Tuck rounded out the key individual performances with a game-high six aces along with seven kills.
For the Badgers’ next two games, they travel to North Bay to play the Nipissing Lakers, who rank fifth-last in the OUA. For more information, check out gobadgers.ca.
