The Badgers’ women’s volleyball team went into Friday, Jan. 13’s match against the McMaster Marauders ranked number two in the country.
With their eyes set on first place, the Badgers looked to continue a 23-match winning streak that stretches all the way back to February 2020.
McMaster was the toughest OUA matchup that the Badgers have faced in a while. While none of their past six OUA opponents have been ranked higher than seventh, the Marauders are currently fourth in the OUA.
In the first set, McMaster quickly got out to a 7-1 lead, however, with Christina Jovetic serving, they clawed back to go up 11-7.
However, that 10-point streak was the last multi-point streak that the Badgers could muster in the first set. McMaster wore them down the rest of the way, coming out ahead 25-20.
The second set was the complete opposite. With some great play at the net, Brock was able to dismantle the Marauders, winning by a decisive 25-17.
Brock has gone down in matches before, but has always shown great resilience to battle back. Typically, this is where we would see the Badgers lock in and lock down, demonstrating why they’re one of the top teams in the country.
This was not, however, a typical Brock Badgers match; this one had something more in store.
Set three was a war of attrition. With both teams going tit for tat and being unable to gain a discernible advantage, the two sides were eventually tied at 20. McMaster was able to sneak in a consecutive point and won 25-23 on the kill.
Undeterred, the Badgers, despite their sterling record (and it being January), played the fourth set like a team with their season on the line.
Brock put together one of the most complete sets of volleyball they had managed to date. Going on huge scoring runs and holding McMaster to an absurd negative hitting percentage of -0.148, the Badgers dominated 25-9.
Brock’s gutsy effort set up a massive playoff set and, 14 points in, Brock looked to be back to their normal selves. Up 9-5, the Badgers needed only a few points to claim a nail-biting victory.
Clearly unsatisfied with the level of intrigue, the Badgers blew their lead, allowing McMaster to tie the set at 10.
Feeling the momentum, McMaster finished off Brock 15-13, breaking one of the country’s longest win streaks.
Sadie Dick led the way at the net, leading the team with 15 kills while adding four blocks.
Jovetic, Sarah Rohr and Aleiah Torres led the team in aces (4), assists (40) and digs (18) respectively.
Emily Foest had a strong all-around performance, with 10 kills, seven digs, two blocks and an ace.
The Badgers’ next two games are on Jan. 20 and 21 in London against the Western University Mustangs. Their full schedule and results can be found on their gobadgers.ca page.
