BARRIE, Ont. - Durham College left it all on the court on Saturday morning but fell just short of advancing to the OCAA men's volleyball bronze medal match as the No. 4-ranked Algonquin Thunder pulled off a marathon 3-2 victory over the Lords.

Durham pushed their East region rival to the brink of elimination but the Thunder were able to edge out the victory winning by set scores of 21-25, 29-27, 19-25, 28-26 and 21-19. The semi-final match mirrored the result of their last meeting in the regular season when Algonquin beat Durham in five sets to clinch the OCAA East region title.

The Lords received outstanding play from several front-court players including player of the game Alex van Staalduinen (Peterborough, Ont.) who registered 12 kills, five digs and three service aces. Van Staalduinen was one of four Durham players who was able to convert over half of their attacks for points highlighted by Lords powerhouse middle Jeremy Hoekstra (Cobourg, Ont.) who scored a hitting percentage of .750 converting 20 attacks for 15 kills. This strong front-court play was orchestrated by Durham setter Riley McAllister (Oshawa, Ont.) who finished the grueling five set match with a game-high 58 assists along with 12 digs and seven blocked shots.

The Thunder showcased an outstanding offensive effort of their own featuring four players reaching double-digit kills led by Philippe Yeldon who achieved a game-high 23 kills. Yeldon also recorded seven digs and seven blocked shots illustrating his value on both the offensive and defensive fronts for the Thunder. Fellow hitter Nikita Yastrebov was named Algonquin player of the game converting several of his 11 kills at crucial points in the match.

Following the championship, Hoekstra was named the recipient of the Fair Play award while the Mohawk Mountaineers won the gold medal defeated Humber in five sets. Fanshawe defeated Algonquin to win bronze.

Durham finished the championship with a 1-2 record with all three of their matches coming against nationally ranked opponents. The fifth place standing at provincials is the Lords best performance since 2008 where they lost in the bronze medal match to Humber. The last time Durham reached the podium at provincials was back in 2006 when they won silver.

With 25 overall victories, Durham set a program high for wins in a season breaking the previous high of 24 set back in 2010.

Fans will be able to catch some of the Durham men's volleyball team in action one more time as the college is set to host the 2014 OCAA all-star games on Saturday, March 22 at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre.

OCAA CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Quarter-Finals: Durham defeated Niagara 3-2
Semi-Finals: Humber defeated Durham 3-0
Bronze Medal Semi-Finals: Algonquin defeated Durham 3-2

Source: Durham College