The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team tuned up for the second half of the OUA regular season with a trio of exhibition matches at the University of Alberta New Year's Classic this weekend in Edmonton.

Toronto opened the weekend with a 3-1 loss versus the host Alberta Pandas on Friday (Jan. 2) night. Set scores for the match were 20-25, 23-25, 25-20, 19-25. The Blues were competitive with the No. 1 nationally ranked Pandas, utilizing a strong defensive effort with 46 total digs to keep pace throughout all four sets. However, Alberta was able to control play at the net registering 13 total blocks compared to just five for Toronto, and 53 total kills to 45 for U of T. Both Julia Liu and Olivia Zhu tallied double-digit kills for the Blues with 17 and 13, respectively. Meanwhile, Delaney Watson shined defensively with a game-high 14 digs.

The Varsity Blues rebounded on Saturday (Jan. 3) with a 3-1 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers. Set scores for the contest were 25-17, 25-19, 20-25, 25-16. Dominating the Tigers from her outside hitter position, Liu reached 21.5 total points in the win with 18 kills, two service aces, one solo block and one block assist. As a team, Toronto also excelled at the net with 16 total blocks and at the service line with five different Blues registering an ace in the win.

In their final match on Sunday (Jan. 4), U of T dropped a tightly contested 3-2 decision to the No. 3 nationally ranked UBC Thunderbirds. Set scores were 16-25, 25-21, 26-24, 19-25, 11-15. Guilia Chimilovski topped U of T in the five set outing, registering 11 kills, two service aces and three block assists. Meanwhile, Blues setter Louisa Cassidy reached 30 assists in all three matches, recording 33 versus the Thunderbirds. Another strong service outing saw six Blues tally a service ace.

The Varsity Blues next begin the second half of the OUA regular season on the road, traveling to Peterborough to face the Trent Excalibur in back-to-back matches this coming Friday (Jan. 9) and Saturday (Jan. 10). U of T then return home to Goldring Centre for a four-match homestand. Tickets for Varsity Blues home games are available at varsityblues.ca/tickets, while matches are also streamed online at oua.tv.