By: Zach Worden
SCARBOROUGH — Alexander Smith and Ayoola Ojeshina had eight kills each as the Centennial Colts beat the Durham Lords 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in OCAA men's volleyball action.
The Colts (4-2) had a big offensive showing as they beat the Lords (4-4) in straight sets. In addition to the big performances from Smith and Ojeshina, Brenden Chau had five kills and Babak Ebrahimi finished with 26 assists, three digs, two aces, and two blocks in the win.
In the win over its east division opponent, Centennial secured the third place spot, fending off the Lords — who would've passed the Colts with a win.
Durham was led by William Egan, who finished with five kills, and Kyle Travis, who had 15 assists.
After a tight opening to the first set, the Colts started to build a lead. They forced a Durham timeout after going up 15-7 and continued to control the action once play resumed.
Led by Smith's three kills and set sealing block, Centennial broke out to a 1-0 lead with a dominating 25-13 win.
The Colts continued their strong offensive match in the second set, building a 12-5 lead.
The Lords responded with a big run to get themselves back into the set. They were able to cut their deficit to three after scoring nine of the next 14 points. But three was as close as they would get, as Centennial re-took control throughout the final points of the second frame, going up 2-0 with a 25-18 win.
Ebrahimi had a big set for the Colts. He had 11 assists, two digs, and one block as Centennial built their lead in the match. The offense came from up and down the lineup in the set as Vinit Purohit, Ojeshina and Smith had three kills apiece.
Momentum shifted at the start of the third set as the Lords fought to stay in the match. Durham struggled to hold the Colts down despite taking the lead early on.
Once re-taking the lead, Centennial started to pull away, forcing a Durham timeout after going up 15-11.
The Colts finished the set strong after the timeout, holding off the Lords' comeback attempt with a 25-19 win — securing their fourth win of the season in straight sets.