The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team defeated the Nipissing Lakers in straight sets on Saturday (Nov. 22) afternoon inside the Goldring Centre – Kimel Family Field House.
Set scores were 25-17, 25-21, 25-16. The Blues conclude their fall competition schedule with a 4-4 record. After six straight road games to start the season, U of T will now look to take advantage of a heavy home schedule for the winter semester with eight of their ten second semester matches taking place at Goldring Centre.
On the court on Saturday, U of T proved to be dominant in their attack at the net and on the service line. The Blues combined for 16 total service aces throughout the quick three set contest, while also delivering a .238 hitting percentage on 101 total attacks.
Leading the way for the Blues was fourth-year outside hitter Olivia Zhu who tallied a game-high 15 points from nine kills and a new single game career-high six service aces. This included a pivotal second set service run which saw two of her aces help lead to a mid-set comeback, stealing any momentum the Lakers were building. Second-year outside hitter Julia Liu also reached double-digit points with 10 kills and one block assist. First-year setters Louisa Cassidy and Marina Gustke split duties in guiding the Blues offence across the three sets, combining for 28 total assists.
Defensively, Third-year outside hitter Giulia Chimilovski and third-year libero Delaney Watson were exceptional for the Blues, stifling the Nipissing offence throughout the afternoon contest. Chimilovski finished with a team-high 15 digs, while also contributing offensively with four kills and four aces. Watson tallied another 14 digs, adding to her team-leading 71 total digs so far this season. Watson now sits just four digs shy of hitting 700 career digs.
For the second straight match it was Oceane Raymond-Leduc who topped the scoresheet for the Lakers, posting 13 kills and one service ace for a team-high 14 points. Raymond-Leduc currently leads the OUA with 137 total kills and 4.57 kills per set across eight first semester matches. Nipissing libero Jada Weir also shined defensively with a match-high 22 digs.
The Blues will return from the winter break with a trio of exhibition matches at the University of Alberta New Years Classic before opening the second half of the OUA season versus the Trent Excalibur in Peterborough on Friday, Jan. 9.
