The women's volleyball team faced off against the Cambrian Shield in their OCAA Qualifying game on Saturday night, and were looking to book their ticket to the quarterfinal.
The Wolves got out to a slow start to begin the match, committing several receiving and attacking errors, and they quickly found themselves in a 7-4 hole. An ace from Grace Pate brought the Wolves within 1, and Riley Lancia and Carys Tenthorey got the offense going with a pair of big kills. Algonquin managed to make it 16-15, but more service errors from the Wolves prevented them from building any sort of momentum, and the Shields' high-flying offense took over the set. Cambrian's Carlie Pappano had several thunderous kills, and the Shield took set 1 25-21.
The Wolves were still having some difficulties containing the Shield in the 2nd set and saw themselves down 7-0. After a Wolves time-out, the Wolves began to go to Isabella Tourangeau for some scoring, as she delivered 2 of her 11 kills in the match to give the Wolves some life. Ultimately, Cambrian's lead was too much to overcome, and the Wolves lost the 2nd set 25-17. With their back's against the wall head coach Everton Senior made some line-up changes, and put in first-year left side Cambria Alford. At first, the change didn't seem to make a difference as the Wolves quickly fell behind 5-0. However, Algonquin ramped up their defensive efforts which included a frantic foot save by Grace Pate, followed by an ace by Gabbie Paquette and the set was tied at 6. The set went point-for-point until Cambrian held serve to make it 24-22 and double match point. Isabella Tourangeua once again delivered a powerful kill to give the Wolves the side-out and then after a Cambrian error, Tourangeua came up with a massive block to give the Wolves set point. Grace Pate was able to tool the Cambrian block and gave the Wolves the 26-24 set win.
In the 4th set, Algonquin was able to keep the Shield's offense at bay thanks to some incredible defensive efforts from Jordan Faig. On top of their backcourt defense, the Wolves also ramped up their net-front presence with back-to-back stuff blocks from Grace Pate and Isabella Tourangeau tying the set at 12. However, Cambrians offense would not be denied, and despite the Wolves efforts, the Shield pulled away to take the set 25-20, and the match 3-1. With the loss the Wolves 2024-25 season comes to an end. There were several stand-out performances from the Wolves, who were led by Isabella Tourangeau who finished with 11 kills and 3 blocks. Carys Tenthorey added 14 kills and 1 block. Grace Pate had 10 kills, 2 aces and 2 blocks, Jordan Faig finished that match with 22 digs, and Gabbie Paquette dished out 30 assists.
