Kayla Iafelice, Staff Contributor
Volleyball-sized craters were left on the gym floor after the University of King’s College Blue Devils battled Holland College Hurricanes for a first home win by a score of 3 – 2.
Both men’s volleyball teams came to play Saturday as spikes were slammed down from both sides of the net and tensions grew as the match went forward.
It looked like King’s was going to win after winning two consecutive sets 26 – 24 and 25 – 15, but a spurt of aggression from the Hurricanes quickly turned the game around in the third set.
“I think it was a bit closer then we wanted it to be,” said King’s leading right-side hitter of the game Alex Bell-Moratto.
The lack of communication and easy mistakes made early on set a slow-pace for the beginning of the match.
Blue Devil’s head coach Justin Lynch says the team’s advantage for the game would be their height.
“The key to this game is going to be intensity. We’ve been working all week on intensity with our blocking and our defence.”
What was learnt in practice came into play and the intensity picked up when Daniel Strickland, the Blue Devil’s 6’7” middle, took the lead in blocking.
By the second set, the Blue Devils were playing together. They were all very in tune with setter Colin Gaudet and serves were being received with accuracy and precision.
In set three, the Hurricanes turned up the aggression and continued to forcefully return the ball, waking the Blue Devils up from what had been a textbook game.
The Blue Devils lost the lead early in the set, but remained in the game as the lead changed from point to point. Many small mistakes were made and the game shifted from a team game to an individual one. This cost the Blue Devils the third and fourth sets, 27 – 25 and 25 – 23.
As both teams entered the fifth set the atmosphere changed. Lynch tried to motivate the boys out of their team rut.
The focus for Lynch was “not getting complacent, not giving up and not accepting mediocrity.”
Communication increased, balls were returned and there was an overall hustle from all players on the court.
Several mistakes and an unsportsmanlike conduct call against the Hurricanes provided the Blue Devils with the opportunity to win the set 15 – 12.
“We’ve beaten that team pretty easily before. We’re really happy we came through in the end and showed a lot of strength,” said Moratto post-game.
The Blue Devils play again Jan. 15 against the University of New Brunswick Saint John.
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