The Brock Badgers women's volleyball team is going to the U SPORTS national championships for the first time in program history.

The Badgers shut down the Guelph Gryphons 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-15) in the semi-finals of the OUA Final Four at the Goldring Centre in Toronto in front of a large Brock crowd who made the trip from St. Catharines on Friday, March 6.

"It felt like a home game. Our fans are great. I'm so proud of the girls," said head coach Steve Delaney. "With that said, we have an OUA final to win tomorrow, so we have to get focused on that."

Brock, ranked sixth in the nation, advances to the Quigley Cup final where they will face the hosts, third-ranked Toronto Varsity Blues, on Saturday, March 7 at 6:30 p.m.

Delaney noted Toronto's experience as a perennial powerhouse in women's volleyball.

"We have to play U of T — the defending champs — in this game, in this gym, and they've done this far more than we have," he said. "We have a tough task, but I think we're up for it."

Fourth-year right-side hitter Darby Taylor led the team with seven kills. Laura Condotta and Grace Pyatt were also key contributors in the attack, recording six and five kills, respectively. 

"We stuck to our game plan and we added a few more pieces to our offence that really helped with our outside hitters," said Delaney. "We executed our game plan to a tee and when that happens, we're a tough team to beat."

Player of the match Emily Armstrong was the catalyst for the Badgers' offence with 21 assists over the course of the game. Armstrong also tallied two blocks during the contest.

Following a strong finish to the first set, Taylor powered the Badgers to a seven-point lead midway through the second.

The Badgers dominated the third set with a opening nine-point lead and never looked back.

Libero Aleiah Torres led the team in digs with 12. Condotta and Armstrong also registered double figures in digs, with the pair chalking up 11 each.

Pyatt and Armstrong each co-led the team in aces with two.

The Varsity Blues beat the Western Mustangs 3-1 (25-22, 16-25, 26-24, 25-20) in the other semi-final match Friday.

The gold-medal match will be livestreamed on Saturday on OUA.tv. Tickets are available here.

With Friday's semi-final win, Brock is guaranteed to finish in the top two at the OUA tournament, which will be their best-ever OUA finish, and earns them an entry to the U SPORTS national championships March 13-15 in Calgary.
 

OUA FINAL FOUR SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Friday, March 6

4:00pm Semifinal #1: Toronto 3, Western 1 (25-22, 16-25, 26-24, 25-20)

6:30pm Semifinal #2: Brock 3 vs Guelph 0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-15)    

Saturday, March 7

4:00pm Bronze medal match: Western vs Guelph

6:30pm Gold medal match: Toronto vs Brock