NIAGARA 3, DURHAM 0

TORONTO - The second game on Day 1 of the OCAA championship saw the defending OCAA champion Niagara Knights sweep the Durham Lords to advance to the semifinal.

The defending champs started slow against the Lords as they fell behind 3-0 early in the opening set, but pulled it together to dominate the rest of the set. Taking a 14-9 lead, the Lords were forced to call a timeout to try and regroup. The Lords were able to make it interesting near the end of the set pulling within two points, but the Knights pulled out a 25-21 win.

In the second set, the energy continued to rise as both teams battled fiercely to grab an edge. In the early stages, it looked like the Knights could run away with the set as mistakes hurt the Lords.  The Lords regrouped to keep it close, trailing 14-13 just passed the midway point of the set. The Knights, however, would not let the momentum slide away from them holding on to win the second set 25-20.

After the second set, it was hard to believe that the game could get anymore exciting, but somehow both teams managed to increase the energy. With rally after rally, both teams had to fight hard for each and every point. Neither team was able to grab momentum, but in the end, the defending champions were too much for the Lords and pulled out a 25-23 set win and a sweep of the match 3-0.

The Knights will move on to the semifinals and take on the Mohawk Mountaineers at 6 p.m. Friday while the Lords will move on to the consolation side of the bracket where they will face the Fleming Knights tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Source: Seneca College