The Brock women's volleyball team is back on top of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) mountain.
 
Avenging last season's finals defeat and capturing their fourth provincial title, the No. 4 nationally ranked and OUA top seed Badgers bested the No. 3 seed McMaster Marauders 3-1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-23, 25-18) in the Quigley Cup on Friday, March 6 at Bob Davis Gymnasium.
 
"It's always awesome to play here," said head coach Steve Delaney. "The home crowd is great. It's like having an extra player on the court; that's why we fight so hard for home court advantage."
 
OUA Player of the Game Daryan Chadwick led the way with a career-high and game-high 18 points from 17 kills and a service ace, while Charlotte Ross (13.5), Madison Tuck (13) and Emma Baruchelli (13) all produced double-digit points. Mackenna Knox recorded a match-high 45 assists and was strong defensively with a team-high 14 digs.
 
"It feels amazing to win the Quigley Cup," Chadwick said. "We set a goal to be in this game at the start of the year and to win it is surreal."

The hosts controlled the tempo early, jumping out to an 8-4 lead with aces from Ross and Chadwick, but later in the frame, three straight kills by McMaster brought the lead down to one at 20-19.  
 
The Badgers were not fazed as they answered back with a 5-1 run to win 25-20 while taking advantage of five service errors and five attack errors in the frame from the Marauders.
 
Carrying momentum from the first set, Brock took the first three points, but McMaster answered back with eight of the next 11 to go up 8-6.
 
The two teams traded impressive 9-3 runs, leading the visitors to hold a slim 20-18 advantage. Despite leading in kills (14-11) and blocks (4-2) and holding a 23-21 edge late, Brock fell 26-24 after a McMaster block sealed the set.

Continuing their strong play, the Marauders went on a big 7-3 run in the third to claim a 16-12 lead at the midway point of the frame.

Trailing 18-14, Tuck earned three kills as part of an 11-5 Badgers' surge that gave the hosts a 25-23 set victory. Despite outhitting Brock .294 to .200, McMaster could not win the kills battle as Brock bested them in that category 17-13.
 
"I think having a moment to reset, reset our minds and just start back at 0-0 helped," Chadwick said. "Having that time was super important to get us back into the game and bring the momentum back on our side." 
 
Chadwick scored seven of Brock's 18 points, all from kills, to help her team double up the Marauders 18-9 in the fourth set.
 
"Daryan had the game of her life in the final," Delaney said. "We needed her to step up, and she did, so that was excellent."
 
Despite a late push from McMaster that saw the deficit go down to 20-15, the hosts were up to the challenge, denying the Marauders' attack and closing out the set 25-18 to claim the OUA title.
 
"It feels amazing to win the Quigley Cup," Chadwick said. "We set a goal to be in this game at the start of the year and to win it is surreal."

Hitting efficiency proved key in the game's outcome, with the Badgers hitting at .273 per cent to .204 per cent for the Marauders. Defensive play was another major factor as the home team came up with 62 digs to 50 from the opposition.
 
"Staying aggressive was really important," Chadwick said. "McMaster has a really good offence, but it was our grit that kept us in the game."
 
The Badgers have extended their stellar season, punching their ticket to the U SPORTS Women's Volleyball Championship, which will be held in Langley, B.C., from Friday, March 13 to Sunday, March 15.
 
"It feels great to win the Quigley again in our gym," Delaney said. "It's now on to the U SPORTS Championship. We want to take a couple moments to celebrate, and then we got to figure out our plans to leave on Tuesday and get ready for the tournament."