WINDSOR, Ont. - The St. Clair College women's volleyball team continued their OCAA season schedule when they hosted the Durham College Lords in a playoff match at the Sportsplex on Saturday afternoon.
St. Clair played a solid match and but suffered a tough 3-2 loss. It was an extremely tight match with the momentum going back and forth throughout the match. Set scores for Durham were 22-25, 25-23, 27-25, 22-25 and 15-11. Sara Yablonksy led the way for St Clair with 15 kills, three stuff blocks and six digs. Shalena Horsts also had a strong match with 11 kills, one block, four assists and 13 digs.
The Saints ended the regular season in a three-way tie for third place with a record of 12-6. The Lords finished the season with a record of 13-5 in four-way tie for second place. St. Clair won 42 sets and lost 22 while Durham won 44 and lost 19. The St. Clair women are currently ranked fifth in Ontario while Durham are ranked ninth.
Both teams had been hot entering the match winning eight of their last 10 matches. With the win Durham advances to the OCAA Women's Volleyball Championship being hosted by Redeemer University College from Feb. 26-28.
Source: St. Clair College
WINDSOR, Ont. - Special things happen in the playoffs.
This was the case for the Durham College women's volleyball team on Saturday as they pulled off an epic 3-2 victory over the St. Clair Saints.
With the win, Durham advances to the OCAA Championship that is set to take place in Ancaster, Ont., from Feb. 26-28. The Lords opponent in the quarter-finals will be the Georgian Grizzlies, who finished in first place in the OCAA east region. The two teams were even against one-another this year, each picking up a victory on their respective home courts.
Saturday's playoff match in Windsor, Ont., was an instant classic with the teams trading points throughout the game that lasted over two hours.
St. Clair would get off to the hot start taking set one by a score of 25-22, but the Lords would bounce back with a pair of victories winning sets two and three by scores of 25-23 and 27-25.
With the Saints facing elimination and trailing 11-9 in the fourth set, they were able to dig down in front of their hometown crowd and pull off a 25-22 win, forcing a fifth and deciding set.
Despite missing out on an opportunity to close out the match in the fourth, Durham looked confident in the fifth as they took an 11-8 lead to force a St. Clair timeout. The Lords were able to carry their momentum the rest of the way and take the set 15-11 and book their ticket to the provincial championship.
Spectacular defence was the key to victory as Kayla Donahue (Ajax, Ont.) and Emily Hacker (Cobourg, Ont.) combined for 52 digs. Setter Alysha Johnson (Whitby, Ont.) was also able to chip in with 19 digs while coming up two assists shy of 50.
Jessica Broad (Courtice, Ont.) paced the Lords offensive attack with 22 kills to go along with three blocks and three aces in the victory. Maddie Rae-White (Cobourg, Ont.) had 12 kills.
This marks the third straight year Durham has qualified for the OCAA championship. In their previous two trips, Durham has failed to earn a victory.
Source: Durham College