The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s volleyball team defeated the visiting Waterloo Warriors in OUA quarter-final action, picking up a straight sets victory on Saturday afternoon (March 4) at Goldring Centre. Set scores were 25-14, 25-9, 25-10. The Varsity Blues finished first in the OUA East division, achieving a perfect 19-0 regular season record for the second consecutive season.
The Varsity Blues women will now host the OUA final four tournament next weekend. The Blues will take on the Western Mustangs in the semi-finals on Friday, March 10 at 6 p.m., at Goldring Centre.
In the second matchup, the Ryerson Rams and the McMaster Marauders will square off at 8 p.m. McMaster finished first in the West division this season with a 16-3 record, while Ryerson finished the season with a 15-4 record, below the Blues in the East. Western finished below McMaster in the West with a 15-4 record. The Blues will play as the heavy favourites against these talented teams.
The Blues had no troubles with the Waterloo Warriors; their advantage was their defensive strength, not allowing the Warriors to score any points. The women’s offensive effort was brilliant, their power and ball movement proved to be more effective, shown in the difference in attacking errors—the Blues had five, as opposed to the Warriors’ 18.
Second-year Alina Dormann (Ottawa, ON) was excellent in the contest, and proved to be too much for the Warriors to handle. Dormann scored a game-high 15 points with nine kills, five service aces, and one solo block. Dormann is the reigning 2015-2016 OUA East player of the year and U SPORTS rookie of the year, and once again showed that her rookie campaign wasn’t a fluke.
Fellow outside hitter Anna Feore provided secondary scoring, notching 13 points in the afternoon, including an impressive service run in the second set. Feore finished the afternoon with eight kills, four service aces, one solo block, and 10 digs.
Fifth-year setter Madelyn Mandryk guided Toronto with 24 assists, while also delivering a game-high 11 digs. The fifth-year setter led the province in assists per set for the third consecutive year. Mandryk’s leadership has possibly been her greatest contributing factor to the team this year. She has helped guide a young Varsity Blues squad, which has been challenged in games going deep into five-sets.
Come out and watch the Varsity Blues try and make history next weekend. They could solidify themselves as one of the greatest powerhouses in CIS history.
