Algonquin colleyball left singing the Blues

By Thomas Jolicoeur

joli0035@algonquincollege.com

The Algonquin mens volleyball team`s foray into Canadian Interuniversity Sport competition made for a good match, but they came up just short against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, losing a tightly contested five-set exhibition match three sets to two. It was a change of pace for the Thunder who are used to rolling over competition in league play.
"It's okay for where we're at," said Thunder coach Max Larrivée, who added that the upgrade in competition was a good way to test out the team's strengths and weaknesses.

The players also took it as a good experience. "It was fun, lots of fun. It was really good to play against CIS competition," said Brian Bettencourt.

The Thunder's play even drew praise from the Varsity Blues' head coach, Ed Drukich, calling Algonquin "the best team we've played" on their tour of colleges in eastern Ontario and western Quebec.

"They're very well coached.  They play great fundamental volleyball," Drukich said.

The tone of the match was set right away as the Thunder and the varsity blues exchanged points, neither side taking a big lead, with Toronto winning the first set by four points. The set was highlighted by several Thunder rallies spearheaded by strong net play by Charles Hamilton and Jonathan Sloane, but ultimately mistakes and miscues led to the loss.

After taking the second set by a score of 25-20, the Thunder looked ready to take over the match.  However, close losses in the third and fourth sets left a meaningless fifth where the substitutes battled it out with Algonquin coming out on top.