The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team earned a straight sets road victory over the Trent Excalibur on Saturday (Jan. 10) afternoon in Peterborough.

Set scores in the match were 25–15, 25–17, 25–16.

After a brief early exchange in the opening set, the Blues quickly found rhythm offensively and used extended service runs to separate themselves. Toronto maintained steady pressure in serve-receive and outperformed Trent at the net, finishing with a strong team hitting percentage while limiting errors. Any attempts by Trent to close the gap were met with timely Toronto responses, as the Blues limited the Excalibur to 17 or loss points across all three sets to close out the match efficiently.

Offensively, fourth-year outside hitter Olivia Zhu and second-year outside hitter Julia Liu led the Blues with a team-high 13 points apiece, averaging 4.3 points per set. Zhu tallied 12 kills and one service ace, while Liu registered 10 kills, one ace and two solo blocks. Another strong team effort saw the trio of Thea Ziesmann, Giulia Chimilovski and Marie Boulerice each add seven points in the victory as well.

First-year setter Marina Gustke directed the offence with a game-high 30 assists, ensuring balanced distribution across the U of T attack. Meanwhile, third-year libero Delaney Watson recorded a team-high eight digs.

Trent battled throughout the contest but struggled to generate sustained offence against Toronto's defensive pressure which did not allow a single opponent to reach double-digit scoring on the day. Natalie Fournier led the Excalibur attack with six kills and one solo block in total.

With the win, Toronto improved to a record of 6-4 on the season placing them seventh in the OUA standings. The Blues will look to keep climbing as they next prepare for three straight home games beginning with a showdown versus the rival TMU Bold on Friday, Jan. 17. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. with tickets available at varsityblues.ca/tickets and all home Varsity Blues volleyball matches streamed free online via oua.tv.