DURHAM 3, SENECA 0

NORTH YORK, Ont. - With the turning of the calendar to 2014, it was an opportunity for the Seneca Sting to forget about the disappointing first semester and begin a push for one of the six available playoff spots in the OCAA East Division.

Despite the new year, the results were the same as the Sting were outmatched by the visiting Durham Lords, dropping all three sets on Saturday afternoon.

The Sting started slow in the opening set as the Lords jumped out to a 4-0 lead. The momentum continued for the Lords as they increased their lead to 8-1, leading to a Seneca timeout. The home team began to mount a comeback, closing to within five, before seeing one of their offensive leaders, David Lyon (Thailand) fall backwards over a chair on the team bench.  Although Lyon returned to action immediately, he appeared to be shaking off some soreness from the fall. The Lords regained their form and carried it throughout the opening set to a 25-15 victory.

The early part of the second set was all-Seneca as the Sting used the momentum from a set-opening ace by Jordan Darlington (Ajax, Ont.) to race out to a 5-1 lead. The lead would not last as the Lords evened the score at 6-6 before a kill by Ryan Sheerahamed (Markham, Ont.) regained the lead for the Sting. The teams exchanged leads throughout the set before Durham took a 24-22 lead. A kill by the Lords setter off a second touch finished off the set with the Lords taking it 25-22.

The two teams exchanged points early on before the momentum shifted to the Lords for good.  Darlington went down with an apparent ankle injury early in the set, leaving the Sting without their best blocker at the net. The Lords used this to their advantage to take a 9-4 lead. The Sting battled hard, but were unable to close the gap to fewer than five as Durham took the final set 25-17.

Lyon paced the Sting with 14 kills while Darlington added nine. Setter Patrick Asuncion (Scarborough, Ont.) had 24 assists while adding a match-high seven digs.

The Sting will travel to Loyalist on Wednesday at 8 p.m. while the Lords travel to Fleming Thursday at 8 p.m.

Source: Seneca College

NORTH YORK, Ont. - The Durham College men's volleyball team extended their conference winning streak to nine games on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 victory over the Seneca Sting.

Durham dominated the match from start to finish winning by set scores of 25-15, 25-22 and 25-17.

A key moment in the match was when the teams found themselves tied at 22 points apiece in the second set. Off the serving of veteran Luke Kilbourn (Ingersoll, Ont.), Durham reeled off the next three points highlighted by a Riley McAllister (Oshawa, Ont.) kill to win the set.

Everything was clicking for Durham on Saturday which was exemplified in the same set when Dan Popovich (Pickering, Ont.) made an outstanding dig which was tipped back in self-defence by middle Jeremy Hoekstra (Cobourg, Ont.). The ball managed to find its way to the floor on the Seneca side for a Durham point.

The Lords are 10-1 this season and sit in first place in the OCAA East region standings. Seneca falls to 2-8 as they have dropped four of their last five matches.

Durham will aim for 10 straight wins next Thursday night when they head to Peterborough to take on the Fleming Knights. First serve is at 8 p.m.

Source: Durham College