Both the men’s and women’s volleyball teams started off the new year on a high note, with wins against the Brock Badgers on Jan. 14.
On the men’s side of the court, they easily cruised to a straight set victory: 25-19, 25-16, 25-18, forbidding Brock to crack the 20-point mark in all three games.
The beginning of the first set was tightly contested with both teams committing many service errors which stopped them from gaining any momentum. Fortunately for the Warriors, their strong net defence and attacks prevented the Badgers from getting their offence set-up.
Brock was only able to get seven kills in the first set. Eventually, Waterloo was able to break the stalemate and jump out to a 15-11 lead due to attack errors on Brock’s end.
The Warriors’ offence was on full display in the second set as they were able to accumulate 18 kills in the set en route to a convincing 25-16 victory.
The third set was a more back and forth affair with the Warriors committing a lot of errors on attacks, which allowed Brock to stay in the game.
At one point, the game was tied at 15 but three straight kills from the Warriors gave them the 18-15 lead. With the score 20-18 for Waterloo, a five-point swing by the Warriors was able to secure them the deciding game of the match, 25-18.
Leading the way offensively for the Warriors were first-year outside hitters Kevin LeBreux and fourth-year middle Jordan McConkey, with 10 kills each. Setter Nikola Dimitrijevic distributed 32 assists.
Waterloo is now 2-0 against Brock this season, with their other win coming right before the exams and holiday break. With this win, the men’s team was able to bring their record back to the .500 mark at 4-4.
The team has two weeks off before a Jan. 27 game against the York Lions in PAC at 2 p.m.
On the women’s side of the court, they, too, demolished the Brock Badgers in three straight sets, 25-16, 25-22, 25-20.
The first set saw both teams evenly matched. It was not until the score was 15-15 when third-year outside hitter Claire Mackenzie stepped up to the service line and came up huge with two service aces, which really gave Waterloo momentum.
The Warriors would go on a 10-1 run to end the first set, taking it 25-16.
Waterloo was not able to carry their momentum from the first set into the second, as both teams had to battle to secure any type of lead. Waterloo’s strong offence, combined with some poor passing from Brock, led to the Badgers committing many errors on their own attack.
Down 12-13, the Warriors were able to go on a five point run which eventually led to taking the second set, 22-25.
The third set saw Brock jump out to a 5-1 lead but the Warriors were able to quickly regroup and take a convincing 13-8 lead.
Waterloo’s offence was too much to handle for Brock, as many players were able to get attacks past the Badgers’ defence. The Warriors would take the third and deciding set, 25-20.
A win that puts the women’s basketball team one game over .500 with a 5-4 record.
Mackenzie really stood out this game with 10 kills, three aces, and six digs to lead the team. Freshman setter Claire Gagne finished with a sparkling 20 assists.
The women’s volleyball team has their next games on Jan. 20 and 21 as they travel to Thunder Bay, to face off against Lakehead University in back to back matches.
You can check out their games via live stream on OUA.tv.
