The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team dropped a thrilling five set contest versus the No. 10 nationally ranked Western Mustangs on Friday (Feb. 13) night inside Goldring Centre – Kimel Family Field House.

Set scores in the match were 25-23, 21-25, 16-25, 25-17, 10-15

Following a slow start which saw the Blues trailing for a majority of the opening set, U of T ignited their offence late to complete an eight-point swing, turning a six-point deficit into a two-point win. Leading the momentum shift was veteran Olivia Zhu who delivered a pivotal late set service run which included two service aces and a powerful back-row kill.

The action was back-and-forth through the second, but Western was able to string together enough runs to even the score. Momentum would remain with the visitors as the Blues were unable to fit their attacks through the blocks of Western in the third. With six of their 13 total blocks, the Mustangs would capture the third set to take a 2-1 lead.

Control shifted back to U of T as the Blues were able to take an early lead in the fourth, the first time they took an early set advantage throughout the match. With five blocks and three service aces, they utilized every aspect of their game to earn a fourth set win and push the match into a fifth.

The come-from-behind effort would run out of steam though. Continuously finding themselves playing from behind, the Blues were unable to achieve it one more time in the fifth and final set, falling to the nationally ranked opponent.

Zhu would tally six of her game-high 17 kills in the impressive first set comeback. The Varsity Blues veteran would finish with 21.5 total points, adding the two aces to two solo blocks and one block assists. Second-year outside hitter Julia Liu registered 18 points with 15 kills, two aces and one solo block, while fellow outside hitter Giulia Chimilovski secured 10 kills and a team-high three aces. First-year setter Marina Gustke orchestrated the offensive attack, finishing the night with 32 total assists.

Five different Blues reached double-digit digs in the long five set contest. Chimilovski topped all U of T players with 21, while third-year libero Delaney Watson also registered 20.

A thorn in the Blues attack all night long, Mustangs libero Madeline Pelosi thwarted numerous Toronto attacks. The defensive specialist extended many rallies, reaching a new career-high in digs after just the first two sets. She would finish with a game-high 46 total digs across the five-set match.

Four Mustangs would tally double-digit points, led by a dominant performance at the net from Ava Ebert. She would record eight kills, seven solo blocks and two block assists to finish with 16 total points. Pacing the Western offence was setter Christina Stratford who tallied 38 assists.

The Varsity Blues and Mustangs are back on the court inside Goldring Centre tomorrow (Feb. 14) afternoon for a Valentine's Day showdown. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tickets for the final home game of the regular season are available at varsityblues.ca/tickets, while all Varsity Blues home volleyball matches are streamed live and on-demand on oua.tv.