The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team have earned a chance to defend their provincial title on home court following a thrilling 3-1 (25-22, 16-25, 26-24, 25-20) victory over the Western Mustangs in OUA semifinal action on Friday night at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
 
Toronto will take on the winner of Brock/Guelph in the gold-medal match tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m., at Goldring Centre. With the win, the Blues also advance to their second straight U SPORTS championship, to best hosted next weekend (March 13-15) at the University of Calgary.
 
Western will face the loser of tonight's second semifinal in the OUA bronze-medal match at 4 p.m., tomorrow. Advance tickets are on sale here. Both games will also be streamed live on OUA.tv.

Blues head coach Kristine Drakich was in high spirits following the hard-fought victory: "I'm really proud of the way the team played. It was a really tough match, it was a battle. One of the things we worked on was our defence and our defence came really well for us at the end there. We stayed our course and I'm really just proud of everybody and the effort put in."

Alina Dormann was once again an offensive prowess for the Blues, as she led all players with 19 points for the Blues, notching 17 kills and two blocks, while adding 11 digs on the night.
 
Fifth-year left side hitter Caleigh Cruickshank had seven kills, 11 digs and four aces. Fellow left-side Hope Kotun was a key contributor on defense, recording 13 digs.

Veteran middle Anna Licht notched seven kills and two blocks. Jenna Woock was also a force to be reckoned with at the net, notching five emphatic kills to get the home crowd going.

The Blues got off to a ruthless start, establishing an impressive 13-point lead at the first set technical timeout. Dormann and Woock were key offensive contributors early on, as the pair proved too strong for Western's defense. The Mustangs narrowed the deficit to three late in the set, but Toronto held their nerve to seal the win.
 
The second set began with the teams going hammer and tongs, an entirely different start to that of the first set. The Mustangs then opened up a three-point lead at the technical timeout and continued their run all the way to the end of set, with the final score finishing 25-16 in favour of the visitors.
 
Toronto began the third set in the same form as the first, with Western calling an early timeout after going 6-0 down. Composure was key for the hosts, as they held on to the lead at the technical timeout. The Mustangs then sparked an impressive fightback to level the scores at 18-18 and ultimately went ahead 24-22, creating two set point opportunities. Despite this, Toronto had been no stranger to comebacks this season, and scored four straight points to stun the Mustangs and take the third set.
 
With the Blues one set away from glory, the hosts began the potential deciding set in fine fashion by opening up a 6-2 lead. The Mustangs closed the gap to one at the technical timeout, but it was Toronto who would come out on top and book their place in tomorrow's final at the expense of the visitors.
 
STAT LEADERS
 
Toronto
Kills: Alina Dormann (17), Caleigh Cruickshank (7)
Points: Alina Dormann (19), Caleigh Cruickshank (12)
Blocks: Alina Dormann (2), Anna Licht (2)
Digs: Asli Ersozoglu (27)
Assists: Hayley Goodwin (34)
Service aces: Caleigh Cruickshank (4), Jenna Woock (2)
 
Player of the Match: Alina Dormann
 
Western
Kills: Melissa Langegger (17)
Points: Melissa Langegger (22)
Blocks: Kristina Curcin (7)
Digs: Rachel Grove (25)
Assists: Jessica Lam (28)
Service aces: Rachel Grove (3)
 
Player of the Match: Melissa Langegger

OUA FINAL FOUR SCHEDULE & RESULTS
 
Friday, March 6
4:00pm Semifinal #1: Toronto 3, Western 1 (25-22, 16-25, 26-24, 25-20)
6:30pm Semifinal #2: Brock vs Guelph    
 
Saturday, March 7
4:00pm Bronze medal match: Western vs Loser Semifinal #2
6:30pm Gold medal match: Toronto vs Winner Semifinal #2