Emotional match brings 3-0 victory for Wolves women’s volleyball team

A 3-0 victory over the Fleming Phoenix on Jan. 27 began with a graduation ceremony to celebrate eight of the women’s Wolves volleyball players, who played their last home game.

The ceremony was presented by the Wolves coach Everton Senior, who delivered moving words about each player’s impact on the team.

The Wolves started the first set with a solid lead and won the set 25-18. Six of the points were kills by left side Faith Billaney, one of the graduating seniors.

“I think my favourite moment was definitely the first set,” said Jordan Faig, libero for the Wolves. “We had every single senior on the court, we all got to be together for one last time, which was really nice.”

After ending the first set with a seven-point advantage, the team felt confident going into the second set. However, the match quickly became tense as Fleming caught up to the Wolves.

The Wolves recovered and took the second set 25-22, yet the team was not completely satisfied with its performance.

“I think the girls were emotional being at graduation day. We just never really focused on the match,” said Senior. “And maybe took Fleming a little too lightly. As a result, we made the sets much closer than they had to be.”

The third set unfolded just as tense and close as the second, with the rivalling teams constantly trading leads. However, with a final kill by Kieran Raymo, the Algonquin Wolves triumphed 25-22.

“I had the game point kill at 24 and I honestly didn’t even see where the ball went, I just hit it into the block and everyone started cheering,” said Raymo. “So I was like, we got it! And it’s my final game here, I’m a graduating senior.”

Senior was happy with the win, but in his opinion, that was not the most significant part of the match.

“It was playing my captain [Emilie Menard] in right side for her last home game. She’s usually just in the barrel, but she played right side for us today,” said Senior. “I think that was really fun for her and for us to see. She’s an awesome player.”

The Wolves will be back in action Feb. 2 against the Georgian Grizzlies at the Michele McConney Court in Barrie.