SUDBURY, Ont. – The Durham College women's volleyball team ended their season wining provincial bronze, defeating the Humber Hawks 3-1 on the final day of the OCAA championship on Sunday.
The OCAA bronze is the second provincial medal for the Lords in the past three years, previously capturing silver in 2016-17. Capping off a season which saw the team accumulate an incredible 21-1 OCAA record, DC defeated Humber for the first time since 2001-02. That 2001-02 season was also the last year in which Humber failed to capture a provincial medal of their own, finishing in an identical fourth place.
"We worked so hard this year and from the outset we knew one of our end goals for this season was a provincial medal," said Durham head coach
Tony Clarke after the bronze medal match. "Losing the OCAA semifinal yesterday, I stressed to our girls that the importance from that loss was bouncing back and they did an amazing job of that today, battling for balls, hitting it with everything they had. Today was a complete team effort and I couldn't have asked for anything more from our players, they did an incredible job."
Durham was red hot in the first set jumping out to a quick 15-6 lead over their OCAA west third place opponent. OCAA second team all-star and all-rookie team member
Georgi Williams (Whitby, Ont.) was outstanding in the opening frame for the Lords spreading the ball around the court to the numerous offensive weapons.
A much more competitive second set, it was a
Jessica Joensen (Pickering, Ont.) service run late in the set which proved to be the difference. The Lords rattled off five straight points, including two service aces from Joensen, to separate themselves and capture a 25-21 second set win.
Humber slowed down the DC attack in the third set, delivering on strong hitting on the outside to lead 18-8. The deficit proved too much for the Lords who conceded the third frame 25-11.
Action returned to its back-and-forth form in the decisive fourth set. Late in the match it was another service run for the Lords which proved to be the difference as
Althea Boncheff (Alliston, Ont.) converted a big swing and several service aces to retake momentum from Humber. Second-year libero
Devyn Fraser (Uxbridge, Ont.) also came up big stretching out for a pivotal pancake save, setting up a 23-17 lead late in the set. The match came full circle as during a scramble from the Hawks defensively it was Williams tipping over the match-winning point from her setter position to secure the OCAA bronze for the Lords.
Fraser was named player of the match providing outstanding defensive coverage for the Lords in the monumental win over the Hawks. An unsung hero for the Lords, third-year outside hitter
Allyson Terwillegar (Enniskillen, Ont.) was named an OCAA championship all-star after recording 41 points and 34 digs through the Lords three matches at the provincial tournament.
• Durham's third-year co-captain
Jessica Joensen led all players with a game-high 19 points from 13 kills and six service aces.
• The Lords saw three other players reach double-digit points as
Althea Boncheff totaled 15,
Allyson Terwillegar notched 13, and
Cassidy Nicholson-Clarke (Ajax, Ont.) recorded 11.
• Providing some major power on the outside for the Hawks, Julia Watson scored a team-high 16 points off of 13 kills and three service aces.
• Lords player of the match
Devyn Fraser and tournament all-star
Allyson Terwillegar tied with a team-high 14 digs defensively, while setter
Georgi Williams totaled 41 assists in the bronze medal winning performance.
• Defensively, Hawks libero recorded a game-high 18 digs, while setter Alex Bartman registered 38 assists.
Overall Record: 32-9
Conference Record: 18-0
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