By: Zach Worden
SCARBOROUGH — Sophia Clement had 26 assists, six kills, three aces and nine digs in a match against her former squad as the Centennial Colts beat the Georgian Grizzlies 3-2 in Wednesday night women’s volleyball OCAA action.
In a five set thriller, the Colts (2-0) got contributions from all over their roster. In addition to Clement’s stellar match, Alia Ricciardelli had 12 kills, one block and one dig, Symphony Kwong had seven kills, three assists, 15 digs and one ace and Frances Joy Carabbacan had 10 kills, three aces and five digs.
“I’ve been talking about it all week,” Clement said of the match against the Grizzlies. “I think that’s a part of why we played so hard because everyone knew I wanted to beat them — and they’re a good team so it was just exciting to play them in general.”
The win over the Grizzlies (0-2) gives Centennial two straight wins to start its season. They will be back in action this Sunday when they welcome the Seneca Sting to the Athletics & Wellness Centre for a shot at three in a row.
“It was our second one in a row like that, I feel like I’m aging a lot but boy are we learning a lot,” Colts’ head coach Andrew Mallory joked after the win. “As a first year team with 14 rookies we’re learning how to battle, we’re dealing with adversity.
“You couldn’t be more proud as a coach… we’re glad to be 2-0.”
In the opening set on Wednesday, the Colts rallied from a 15-9 deficit by going on a run of their own, taking 10 of the following 14 points to tie things at 19.
However, Georgian responded with some solid net play to turn the set around and come away with the 25-23 victory to open the match.
Kwong played a big role in the Colts’ comeback with three kills in the set. She also added an assist and two digs to open the match.
Centennial continued the momentum it built early into the second frame, taking an early lead — which turned into an extended run going up by as many as 10 points.
The Colts punctuated their run with a return way back on their side, getting the ball over the net and forcing a Georgian error. They would go on to win the frame 25-15, knotting the match at one apiece.
Ricciardelli stepped up in the set with four kills, getting help from Clement, who continued her great game. After posting six assists in the first set, she added five to her total for the night.
The tight affair resumed in the third set with both squads trading points throughout. After things were all even at 19, the Colts scored three straight to force a Grizz timeout.
Despite Georgian taking the following two points, Centennial rallied and won the set 25-21.
The Grizzlies once again took an early lead in the fourth set, but this time were able to gain some separation from the Colts, taking a 10-point lead themselves.
Centennial fought back, stringing together consecutive points multiple times but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit and Georgian came away with the set 25-19 — sending the match to a winner takes all fifth set.
Kwong had a strong defensive set for Centennial with five digs, while Clement added another seven assists.
In the final set, Centennial broke out to the early lead, but Georgian kept it tight.
Kwong fired a serve that deflected off the top of the net and fell in for an ace to put the Colts up 8-6.
The Grizzlies would tie the set at nine, but Centennial responded with back-to-back aces to take control of the set. With the momentum on their side, the Colts came away with a 15-10 victory winning the match.
“Everybody’s working their butts off in practice, showing up, everybody really wants to win,” Clement said. “The team environment is the key to success for us.”