Warriors punch fifth straight ticket to OUA Final Four with 3-1 win over Blues

The Warrior men's volleyball team earned their fifth straight trip to the OUA final four with a hard fought 3-1 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues in the OUA quarter-finals on Saturday afternoon in Toronto.  The scrappy Blues went toe-to-toe with the Warriors but Waterloo had the poise and confidence needed to pull it out.  

The Warriors took the opening set 25-23 thanks to seven straight points with Aidan Simone (London) at the service line.  Simone put away four service aces in that sequence and would go on to finish with six in the match.  

The second set was another seesaw affair with Waterloo pulling away late once again, winning it 25-20.  The Blues would extend the match taking the third set 25-22 but the Warriors would put the match to bed with s 25-23 set win in the fourth. Simone was brilliant in the contest with 14 kills on top of his six aces while adding six digs and one block.  Aidan's brother Greg Simone (London) was also a key factor in the win with 10 kills and nine digs.  Leading the way in kills was Braden Cok (Waterloo) with 15 while also playing a factor at the net with three blocks.  Up the middle Waterloo got a pair of solid efforts from Jordan McConkey (Stratford) and Trevor Coathup (Ottawa) who teamed up for 18 kills and six blocks.  

Pictured above with an emotional celebration, Erich Woolley (New Dundee) was his usual self with 15 digs in the match while Gibson Graham (Markham) was on point with an incredible 54 assists in the win.

For the Blues William Colluci led all players with 16 kills while adding 10 digs.  Aleksa Miladinovic had 41 assists in a losing effort.  

Waterloo will now battle the No. 2 team in the country, McMaster in the OUA semifinals on Thursday at 8pm.  A win will qualify the Warriors for the CIS Championship, also hosted by McMaster, March 10-12.

Source: Waterloo Warriors