By: Zach Worden
SCARBOROUGH — Alexander Smith had nine kills, two aces, two blocks, and 14 digs as the Centennial Colts fell in a tight match 3-2 against the Canadore Panthers in men’s OCAA volleyball action Sunday afternoon.
While Smith led the way for Centennial (4-3), Brendan Chau had 11 kills, five digs, and two aces, Ayoola Ojeshina had 11 kills, four blocks, and eight digs, and Babak Ebrahimi finished with 38 assists and five digs in the five-set loss.
On the other side, Konrad Siedlec, Ethan Lucas, Lane Cote, and Steve Bidal all had double-digit kills as Canadore (7-1) came away with the win, extending its win streak to five.
Centennial’s got out to a strong start behind its front-line attacks. After the two teams traded points to open the match, the Colts forced a Panthers timeout by going up 10-6.
Despite growing their lead out of the timeout, Canadore’s comeback effort picked up into the later stages of the set — forcing a Colts timeout after cutting the lead to 18-17.
The Panthers controlled the action out of that timeout, scoring eight of the next 13 points, taking the opening set 25-23 and going ahead 1-0.
Ojeshina led Centennial with three kills in the set, while Sky Yiu Yeung, Vinit Purohit, Chau, and Smith had two apiece.
The tight battle continued into the second set, with both sides exchanging points through most of the set.
After the Panthers evened things up at 12, neither side took a lead of more than one until the Colts went up 17-15.
Centennial kept the pressure on, forcing a Canadore timeout after growing their advantage to 22-19.
But the Panthers responded out of the timeout, grabbing the momentum and tying things up at 24.
The Colts held off the Canadore comeback attempts — winning the set 27-25, evening the match 1-1.
Chau continued his strong match, adding three kills to his total in the second set. Ebrahimi had 10 assists in the frame, continuing his strong play this season.
The back-and-forth affair resumed right from the first serve in the third set — as the two OCAA east division opponents proved to be evenly through the early stages.
The Panthers took the first multi-point lead of the set and forced the first timeout in the frame with an 11-8 lead.
Canadore continued to build on its lead, separating itself in the later stages of the ever-crucial third set to secure a 25-16 win.
Centennial held the early advantage in another tightly contested set. They held a lead of as many as three through the opening 20 points, but the Panthers wouldn’t let it grow any more than that — eventually taking a 13-12 lead.
The lead would change hands throughout the middle stages of the set as the Colts worked to force a fifth set.
Canadore broke away first, as the set was tied at 18, and the visitors scored two straight points to force a Centennial timeout.
Out of that break, the Colts scored four straight to take the lead and force the Panthers to take a timeout of their own.
Once again, the timeout proved to be a shift of momentum as Canadore scored three straight.
Centennial would answer, however, ultimately tying the set at 24.
The extra points provided an intense finish and a tight affair, but the Colts overcame the Panthers’ efforts to win 29-27 and force a fifth and final set.
Smith and Ojeshina played a big role in the Colts’ ability to keep playing — combining for seven kills in the fourth frame.
Canadore scored four of the first five points in the deciding set, but as was the case all match, Centennial responded to tie it at five.
The Panthers, though, stayed in the driver’s seat, going up 11-7.
Despite a solid comeback effort, that lead proved to be too much for the Colts to overcome, as Canadore held on just long enough to win the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.