By: Pedro Casellatto

Belleville, ON - The Centennial Men's Volleyball team returned to the winning column on Wednesday night after a great performance against the Loyalist Lancers. They secured the victory in four sets, were granted third place, and stayed in the fight for second. For the second year in a row, they will be hosting the first game of the playoffs.

The game started for the Colts, as things were not working out the way they planned, and they could not find a way to address the issues they were having. While the Colts were struggling to get in the game, the Lancers were showing a great level of volleyball and were not willing to give up on that playoff spot. That led the Lancers to a win in the first set, which was marked by good volume and a stacked defensive system by the hosts.

The second set started just like the first one ended, with the home team taking control and hustling to keep the ball up. However, Michael Matsuto found a good pace to run his offence, and the Colts bought back their usually strong attack. Through the outsides, the Colts were able to open a gap and take the second set with the same 25-20 score.

The third set started with the Colts opening a gap with aggressive serves. The Lancers' defensive game was finally broken by the Colts. With the third set win and the players feeling better to swing more aggressively, the Colts started dominating the game, closing the fourth and last set of the game 25-17.

That was the last opportunity for the Lancers to be in the playoffs. The Colts got to secure the first home game and kept in the fight for the second, which will be decided this weekend when the Colts face the Canadore Panthers, and the Algonquin Wolves face the Georgian Grizzlies. The Colts will be hosting the last game of the regular season this Sunday at 3 p.m.