Grace Pyatt is surrounded by her Brock women's volleyball teammates after winning the Quigley Cup at Bob Davis Gymnasium on Saturday, March 19.For the first time in program history, the Brock Badgers women’s volleyball team holds the title of provincial champions.
The No. 2 Badgers defeated the No. 3 Toronto Varsity Blues 3-1 (25-15, 25-17, 17-25, 25-15) to capture the Quigley Cup at Bob Davis Gymnasium in St. Catharines on Saturday, March 19. It’s the first Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Women’s Volleyball Championship in Brock history.
“This road hasn’t been easy. They say whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and I think that’s what’s happened to us,” said OUA West Coach of the Year Steve Delaney. “Tough times motivated us to work hard to make it back to nationals. I’m just happy we did it.”
The Badgers will return to Calgary, Alta., next week to compete in the 2022 U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Championships from Friday, March 25 to Sunday. March 27.
The 2021-22 Brock women’s volleyball team poses with their first OUA Championship banner in team history.
In 2020, the Badgers reached the national championships for the first time in program history. However, they never had a chance to step on the court as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt a day before they were slated to compete.
“We remember the pain we felt when we got sent home from nationals in 2020,” said senior middle Grace Pyatt. “We worked our tails off to get to this point. Standing here with this trophy, it’s a surreal feeling. It hasn’t sunk in.”
The Badgers opened the first set with a blistering hitting percentage (.462) led by four kills from first-year outside hitter Emily Foest. The second set featured acrobatic digs from second-year libero Aleiah Torres, who finished the match with 22 digs.
Toronto prevailed to win the third set, but there was no doubt for Brock in the fourth.
“We didn’t expect them to battle back,” said outside hitter Sadie Dick. “We knew they were a great team, but going into the fourth set we just told ourselves: ‘Ladies, this is our game.’”
Setter Sara Rohr racked up 41 assists as Pyatt led the attack with 11 kills. Foest and Madison Chimienti each tallied nine.
The victory extends Brock’s streak to 16-0 wins to set a new team record.
“I feel in shock. We worked our tails off to get here,” Rohr said. “We’re still not done.”
