Box Score The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (19-25, 18-25, 25-16, 19-25) decision to the Waterloo Warriors on Friday, January 9 at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

With the loss, the Blues fall to 3-9, while the Warriors improve to 8-4. The match marked the Varsity Blues volleyball grand opening game at the new Goldring Centre.

The new Ron Kimel Field House in the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport is arguably the best court facility in the CIS. The 2,000-seat international standard field house for basketball and volleyball also features a high performance strength and conditioning centre overlooking Varsity Stadium and a state-of-the-art sport medicine clinic. 

Fifth-year left side hitter Jake Dysselhof of Mississauga led the Blues with seven kills and seven digs, while Dave Merritt and Trevor Grant each had six kills on the night. Kyle Fick and Alex Ferris notched 10 and 13 digs, respectively. Fourth-year setter Steven Khuu tallied 30 assists and nine digs in the loss.

Both teams traded points in the first set, with neither holding more than a four-point lead. The Blues went on a 6-4 run and Waterloo led 16-14 at the technical timeout. The Warriors extended their lead with a 4-1 streak out of the break and a final kill from Jordan McConkey won it 25-19 in favour of Waterloo.

The Blues got out to a 5-2 lead in the second set but the Warriors rallied with a 5-2 streak of their own to even the score at 7-7. The two squads went back and forth and were still even at 10-10. A 6-2 run gave Waterloo a 16-12 lead at the technical time out and the Warriors went onto to take it 25-18.

Tied 7-7 in the early goings of the third, Toronto went on a 9-3 streak, and held a 16-10 advantage at the technical timeout. Trevor Grant and Dave Merritt  came up with some big points as U of T cruised to the 25-16 third set victory.

The fourth set started as a see-saw battle, and remained close as Waterloo had a 16-13 lead at the break. The Warriors cushioned their lead and sealed the four-set win with a 25-19 victory.  

Fourth-year Warriors veteran Zachary Doherty led all players with 13 kills, while Aidan Simone had nine. Erich Woolley notched a team-high 15 digs in the win.

The Varsity Blues return to action tomorrow night as they host the Guelph Gryphons at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

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