Excalibur Weekend Wrap-up (Feb 25-27): Excalibur curling showcase strong performances at OUA Championships, women's volleyball clinch playoff berth
It was a weekend of wins for the Excalibur, as the women's curling team hit the ice for the OUA Curling Championships while the women's volleyball team travelled north for a matchup against the Nipissing Lakers.
Getting started at the OUA Curling Championships, the Excalibur women's curling team went head-to-head against the Carleton Ravens in draw 1. A strong team effort, the Excalibur put on a dominant performance, defeating the Ravens 7-3.
The team would drop their second match of the day, a 9-5 loss to the Algoma Thunderbirds, but returned to the Westmount Gold & Country Club with bounce back wins against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks (8-5) and a solid victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks (2-1) to clinch their spot in the quarterfinals.
Facing off against the Brock Badgers in the quarterfinal, the Excalibur traded points with their opponents, but would fall 4-3 to conclude a strong weekend on the ice.
On the court, the Excalibur women's volleyball team visited the Nipissing Lakers in North Bay on Saturday. Falling behind 2-1 after three sets, the Excalibur team dialed down, edging out the Lakers 25-22 and 15-12 in the fourth and fifth sets, completing the 3-2 comeback victory (25-18), (23-25), (20-25), (25-22), (15-12).
Including this game against the Lakers, first-year middle blocker Taya Knier now leads both the OUA and U Sports with an average of 1.50 blocks per set.
By winning the game, the Excalibur women's volleyball team clinched their first playoff berth since joining the OUA in 2016. They will close out their regular season schedule against the Ryerson Rams on Wednesday and Friday.
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