Heather Bansley recorded her 1000th career point as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s volleyball team came away with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-11) victory over the Queen’s Gaels on Saturday, January 30 at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym. 

With the victory, the Blues maintain their top spot with a 10-4 record, while the Gaels (9-6) remain in second in the OUA East. 

The first set started out as a back-and-forth battle. The score was tied 9-9 a third of the way in, but Lauren Willoughby (Unionville, Ont.) pushed back against the Gaels to gain an advantage. Toronto continued from then on to dominate the game with the help of all-Canadian and OUA leader Heather Bansley (Waterdown, Ont.) and 2009 CCAA player of the year Karlee Diesing (Coquitlam, B.C.). The Blues took the match by eight points, 25-17. 

Queen’s had a shaky start coming into the second as Toronto tallied the first four game points. However, the Gaels turned things around and narrowed the game with a five-point streak. Colleen Ogilive (Calgary) was an exceptional player for the Gaels, tying the game three times (15-15, 17-17, and 18-18). Natalie Gray (Oshawa, Ont.) kept Queen’s streak going bringing the score up to 21-23. Amazingly, the Blues came back strong, regained the lead and with a final powerful kill by Kristina Valjas (Toronto) took the set 25-23. 

The Blues continued to play strongly in the third and maintained the lead for most of the set. Ogilive and Grey remained strong competitors and kept pressure on the Blues throughout the first half of the game. Near the end, Toronto widened the gap to 20-10 and finished the game off 25-11 with some powerful shots from Shannon Rossall (Calgary), Bansley and Valjas. 

Bansely was named the Varsity Blues Player of the Game and led the Blues with 16 kills and 11 digs, followed by Diesing with 10 kills and 11 digs and Valjas with 10 kills and four digs. 

The top-scorers for the Gaels were Ogilvie with nine kills followed by Gray with five. 

The Blues return to the court tomorrow (Jan. 31) when they host the RMC Paladins at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym. The game is scheduled for 2 p.m. 

For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite Toronto teams, please visit the home of the Varsity Blues at http://www.varsityblues.ca.