Box Score The Varsity Blues women’s volleyball team overcame a 12-7 deficit in the fifth set to defeat the Western Mustangs 3-2 (25-23, 25-18, 24-26, 22-25, 15-12) in their 2012-13 home opener on Friday night (Oct. 26) at the Atlhetic Centre Sports Gym.
 
Third-year middle Sarah Chapin of Georgetown, Ont., earned player of the game honours, recording nine kills and five digs in the win. Sophomore left Denise Wooding (North Vancouver) tallied a team-high 11 kills and added 14 digs, while Alexandra Hudson notched 10 kills on the night.
 
Veteran libero Katrina Rossall led all players with 21 digs, while Malena Rapaport picked up 35 assists in the win.
 
Things were looking grim for Toronto. After starting the fifth set 6-6, Western surged ahead to take a 12-7 lead. The Blues regrouped and went on an outstanding 8-0 run to end the game and secure their first win of the regular season.
 
The entire match proved to be an epic back-and-forth battle. Both teams exchanged points to open the game and a Chapin kill would cap off the first set, 25-23, in favour of the Blues.
 
After winning the second set 25-18, the Mustangs began to rally and built a 16-14 advantage at the technical time out in the third. The Blues battle back to even the score at 24-24, but a serving ace from Western veteran Rebecca Oxland ended the set 26-24 for the visiting squad.
 
The Mustangs carrier that momentum into the fourth and built a 19-13 lead. A long rally that saw U of T’s Charlotte Sider come up with a big kill gave Toronto some life, but Western held on for the win and forced the fifth-and-deciding set.
 
Oxland led the Mustangs with a game-high 19 kills and 14 digs, while Stephanie Kreuter added 10 kills and eight digs in the loss.
 
The Varsity Blues return to the court tomorrow night as they host the Brock Badgers at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym. Opening serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. The Blues will be honouring Olympian Elodie Li Yuk Lo and Pan American Heather Bansley in a ceremony between the second and third sets.


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