Eagles volleyball drops sets, team remains optimistic
Men’s and women’s teams picked up a pair of losses against UTSG Blue, but coaches and players are still keeping their heads up.
Women’s team drops three sets in loss
On Sunday, November 10, the UTM women’s tri campus volleyball team played their second game of the season against the top ranked team in the league, St. George Blue. The Blues took over with a dominant first set winning 25-12 before making quick work of the Eagles again in the second set. That established the pace for the rest of the game, and despite the Eagles fighting hard to keep it close in the third set, they were unable to come away with the win. The set finished with a narrow 25-21 scoreline, and the match concluded 3-0 in favour of the Blues.
Regardless of the disappointing result, there was much to unpack from UTM’s performance. Annette Huang, the 4th year middle blocker, still believes her team has a bright future, stating, “Every set we played we got better, which shows our potential.”
David Jonathan-Holung, former men’s volleyball MVP, suggested defence should be a point of emphasis in practice, noting that “blocking was inconsistent” and it caused “more pressure on the girls defence.”
There is a long season ahead and the girls remain hopeful that they’ll improve and make a strong comeback for their upcoming match.
Men’s team follows suit
The men’s tri-campus volleyball team had a similar story following their match against St. George Blue. After a hard 25-12 loss in the first set, the men were able to fight hard to win the second set 25-21. Although the team was able to push the match beyond three sets, the team lost their momentum in the third set, and would drop the fourth in an overall 3-1 loss. Currently, the boys have a 0-2 record, but are hoping to change that in the games to come.
Although the game ended in a loss, Taaha, assistant coach for the men’s team, stated, “It was a great game! This has been the number one team since 2015 and we got a set on them.” Taaha also noted his team’s improvement in communication, and said it felt as if his group was “really coming together.”
Since the team has only six returning players from last year, there was much to work on to develop a cohesive unit, which was acknowledged as an improvement since their previous game against Scarborough.
Tozie Amache, who played on the men’s tri-campus team last year, said that “the boys played better than expected,” despite being significant underdogs.
Even though the men’s and women’s teams hadn’t won their games, there were many positive comments on the games’ conclusions as both coaches and players walked away with their heads held high. Next week the two teams will play against Scarborough as the away team, hoping to come back to Mississauga with a win under their belts.
