The Algonquin Wolves Women's Volleyball team opened their 2025-2026 season in style on Saturday, October 25th, taking on the Centennial Colts in their home opener at the ARC. The stands were packed with enthusiastic Wolves fans, creating an electric atmosphere that the team clearly fed off in the opening set.
The Wolves came out strong, using aggressive serving to keep the Colts out of system early. Capitalizing on transition opportunities, Grace Pate and Pasha Ormerod led the attack with several key kills. After an ace from Gabbie Paquette, Centennial was forced to call a timeout trailing 13-4. The break did little to slow the Wolves' momentum as Cambria Alford immediately scored off a pipe attack, followed by another Paquette ace to extend the lead to 11. Chanel Ethier capped off the dominant first set with a powerful kill to make it 20-10, and the Wolves closed it out 25-15.
The second set was much tighter, with both teams trading points early. With the score tied at 13, Ormerod delivered a big kill from the middle, and Natasha Lauzon followed up with an ace to give the Wolves their first lead of the set, forcing another Colts timeout. Carys Tenthorey added a right-side kill down the line to reach 20 points, then served up an ace to push the lead to 22-17. Ethier contributed another strong finish, and Isabella Tourangeau sealed the set with a clutch ace for a 25-18 win.
Centennial responded in the third set, taking advantage of a few unforced Wolves errors to build a late lead. A Colts ace followed by a hitting error from Algonquin gave Centennial the 25-22 win, cutting the Wolves' match lead to 2-1.
The Wolves quickly regained their composure in the fourth set. With the score tied at 5, they began to pull away behind a Tourangeau kill and another Paquette ace to take a 15-10 advantage. Alford's perfectly placed roll shot and Paquette's continued serving pressure forced a Centennial timeout with the Wolves ahead 23-19. Out of the break, Ormerod delivered one more kill before sealing the match with an ace serve, securing a 3-1 victory for Algonquin.
Ormerod led the way with 14 kills, 2 aces, and 3 blocks for a team-high 19 points. Pate added 11 kills and 3 aces, while Tourangeau chipped in 9 kills and 4 aces in a well-rounded team effort.
Up next, the Wolves face cross-town rivals, the La Cité Coyotes, on Wednesday, October 28th at 6:00 PM at the ARC.
