OAKVILLE, Ont. - The Sheridan Bruins men's volleyball team (5-6 OCAA) entered the second half of their season in a position to host a crossover playoff match once the post-season begins, but a disastrous weekend - where they suffered a pair of losses to St. Clair (3-2) and Niagara (3-1) - puts them in the midst of an intense fight for qualification.

"Clearly things did not go the way we wanted them to this weekend," head coach Frank Pento said. "It's certainly a setback for us and even though our margin for error is much smaller than it was prior to this weekend, I still believe in what we have here."

The first two sets against St. Clair were back-and-forth, with the visitors claiming the first (25-21) and third (25-21), with the Double Blue responding both times with wins in the second (25-21) and fourth (26-24).

In the final set, a 4-0 run gave St. Clair an 8-4 advantage at the changeover and they were able to grind out a 15-11 win.

Against Niagara, it was a sluggish start for Sheridan, who trailed 18-12 in the first and 19-15 in the second, on their way to a 2-0 deficit after 25-21 and 25-18 losses.

The Bruins responded with a 25-18 win of their own in the third set, but they fell into a 20-13 hole in the fourth set and were closed out.

They have a critical road game coming up when they travel to Conestoga - who handed the Bruins a 3-2 loss in November - on Jan. 19, to take on a team just beneath them in the OCAA West standings.