The No. 7 seed in the OUA University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s volleyball team fell 3-2 in a hard-fought quarter-final match to the No. 2 seed Western Mustangs on Friday (Feb. 20) night in London, Ont.

Set scores were: 19-25, 15-25, 27-25, 25-22, 11-15.

After two matches against the Mustangs the previous weekend, the Blues looked to flip the script in playoff action. Over the first two sets, Western was in control with five and six unanswered point runs in the first set and a 10-point run to close out the second set. Trailing 2-0 with their season on the line, U of T dug deep matching Western’s force as the two sides traded points. With the set tied at 25, two consecutive kills from second-year outside hitter Andrea Wang kept Toronto’s season alive. In the fourth set, the Blue and White jumped out to an early lead, when Western was able to strike back the Blues kept their composure and forced a fifth set. Fighting hard until the very end, the Blues were able to push the higher seed to the brink but the Mustangs held on for the win.

Leading the way for U of T was second-year commerce student Julia Liu with 20 points and 16 kills. Fourth-year outside hitter Olivia Zhu had 16.5 points while tying third-year libero Delaney Watson for a team-high 17 digs. First-year setter Marina Gustke notched 41 assists.

For the Mustangs, Nyla Tukker had a game-high 26.5 points. Libero Madeline Pelosi had 23 digs and Ava Coonfer had 51 assists.

The Blues will now turn their focus to the 2026-27 season. A young core of Blues will return to the court and build off of momentum gained this season with ambitions of competition for the Quigley Cup and the U SPORTS championship.  

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