DURHAM 3, NIAGARA 2

BARRIE, Ont. - The opening day of the 2014 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Men's Volleyball Championship featured some great play between the eight teams competing at the Georgian College Athletic Centre in Barrie.

The OCAA West Division teams showed their strength as they went 3-1 on Day 1 while posting 11-3 set wins against the east teams.

In match one the Fanshawe Falcons had a strong game over the George Brown Huskies in a three set sweep with scores of 25, 19, 25-20 and 25-17. Fanshawe's Derek Brown was strong on his attacks leading to a team-high seven kills and received player of the game honours for his team.  OCAA East Division all-rookie team member from George Brown John Luu was named player of the game while posting nine points.

The second game was a spirited affair between the Mohawk Mountaineers and the Algonquin Thunder. Each set was tight but it was the Mountaineers who came out with a 3-0 victory over the East Division's top seed. Algonquin entered the championship with just one loss on the season but fell in sets of 25-21, 28-26, and 25-23. Mohawk's Mark Kaveckas was named player of the game after posting an impressive 31 assists and six digs while OCAA player of the year, Philippe Yeldon had a team-high 14 points for Algonquin.

In arguably the best match of Day 1 the Durham Lords pulled out an incredible five set victory over the Niagara Knights. Both teams showed an amazing will to win pushing each other to the limit, but the Lords were able to get the win with sets of 20-25, 25-12, 25-14, 24-26, and 16-14.  Durham became the lone East Division team to win on Day 1. Petrus Kuypers for Durham and Daniel Groenveld for Niagara each had 20 points for their teams and were given player of the game honours.

In the day's final match the host Georgian Grizzlies held their own but were dropped in three straight sets by the west's top seed the Humber Hawks. A large and loud crowd gave the Grizzlies a boost as they tried to upset the Hawks but Humber avoided some early pressure for the win with sets of 25-23 and 25-22 before closing it out 25-13 in the final set. Humber's Cam Fletcher had an 11 point effort while Georgian's Jason Grimm had 12 points.

The semi-finals are set for Friday with the Fanshawe Falcons facing the Mohawk Mountaineers at 6 p.m. and the Durham Lords facing the Humber Hawks at 8 p.m. The remaining teams will play in elimination games Friday as they try to work themselves into a position to take home the bronze medal.

Championship Website: www.georgiancollege.ca/campus-life/athletics/2014-ocaa-mens-volleyball-championship/

Championship Webcast: www.ocaatv.com/members/ocaa2/

OCAA MEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Thursday, February 20
Quarter-Finals
Game 1 - Fanshawe 3, George Brown 0
Game 2 - Mohawk 3, Algonquin 0
Game 3 - Durham 3, Niagara 2
Game 4 - Humber 3, Georgian 0

Friday, February 21
Bronze Quarter-Finals
Game 5 - George Brown vs. Algonquin - 1 p.m.
Game 6 - Niagara vs. Georgian - 3 p.m.
Semi-Finals
Game 7 - Fanshawe vs. Mohawk - 6 p.m.
Game 8 - Durham vs. Humber - 8 p.m.

Saturday, February 22
Bronze Semi-Finals
Game 9 - Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 6 - 9 a.m.
Game 10 - Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 5 - 11 a.m.
Bronze Medal Match
Game 11 - Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 - 4 p.m.
Winning team presented OCAA Bronze Medal at conclusion of match
Gold Medal Match
Game 12 - Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 - 6 p.m.
OCAA Gold and Silver Medals presented at conclusion of match

Source: Georgian College