CANADORE 3, GEORGIAN 0

NORTH BAY, Ont. - The Canadore Panthers men's varsity volleyball team defeated the Georgian Grizzlies in three straight sets today to end their regular season on a high note on home court.

Scores were 27-25, 25-23, 25-16 in favour of the Panthers. Canadore's top scorer was Charlie Hancock with 21 points.

Before the start of the game, Panthers Athletics honoured their two graduating players, Kyle Mywaart and David Mann. With an injured setter, the Panthers were forced to make some switches in their line-up, which brought some new players onto the court, including the player of the game, Novindera Budhram. As their libero, he made some impossible digs to help keep the Panthers in the game when the score was tight.

The first set was carried past the 25 point mark, as the Panthers pushed from behind to win it by two points. The second set was also very close, ending with a similar result before the Canadore men took off in the third to end the game with a kill from Hancock to seal the deal.

Canadore head coach Tim Ryan said, "The team played with a lot more heart today. With some key digs, our player of the game, Novinder, was able to turn the game around and help lead us to a 3-0 win over Georgian."

Budhram commented, "Everyone came together really well today after we had a rough game yesterday. Basically we came into today's game trying to build momentum going into crossovers next weekend which we did."

Source: Canadore College

NORTH BAY, Ont. - For the Georgian Grizzlies men's and women's volleyball teams it was a busy end to the regular season, first beginning with a trip to Oshawa, Ont., to face the Durham Lords in games originally scheduled the week prior followed by a trip to North Bay, Ont., to face the Canadore Panthers in their regular season finale on Sunday.

The women's team had a strong performance on Thursday against the always difficult Durham Lords. In a very tight game both teams battled back and forth in a match that went the five set distance. Georgian were able to rally back to take the final two sets in a 3-2 victory (26-28, 25-23, 12-25, 25-21, 18-16). Natalie Buck (Keswick, Ont.) had a season-high 21 points in the marathon match for the Grizzlies.

Playing their third match in five nights, the Grizzlies faced the Canadore Panthers in the regular season finale. After getting up two sets to none, Georgian simply ran out of gas as Candore rebounded for a 3-2 victory (21-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-17, 15-6). Buck again led the Grizzlies in scoring with 13 points while teammate Allison Marshall (Orillia, Ont.) had 12 points in the loss.

The final split guarantees the Grizzlies will finish third in the OCAA East Division standings and will play host to a crossover playoff game against the St. Clair Saints on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. at the Georgian Athletic Centre. Fans are encouraged to come cheer on the Grizzlies in the big match-up with the winner qualifying for the OCAA Women's Volleyball Championship held at Durham College.

On the men's side, the Grizzlies put up a great battle against the second place team in the East Division in the Durham Lords. Georgian twice had the lead slip away as Durham battled back winning the final two sets to win the match 3-2 (20-25, 25-21, 25-27, 25-15, 15-13). Jason Grimm (Orangeville, Ont.) led all players with 18 points in the contest.

In their match against Canadore the Grizzlies again were in tight in the first two sets but ultimately dropped them 27-25 and 25-23 which could have went either way. From there Georgian couldn't come up with a comeback in the third set dropping it 25-16 to lose 3-0 in a game that was much closer than it appeared.

The men's team will now prepare for the OCAA Men's Volleyball Championship of which the Grizzlies will play as the host team with the tournament scheduled from Feb. 20-22 at Georgian College in Barrie, Ont.

Source: Georgian College