Kajan Thiruthanikasalam (Sports Writer, Colts Athletics)
SCARBOROUGH, ONT.- After the Centennial Colts capped off a successful weekend winning against the Algonquin Thunder and La Cite Coyotes, they were looking to continue their winning streak at home against the Durham Lords.
Before this season, Durham had swept the season series in the two seasons since Centennial came back into the OCAA. After tonight, however, the Colts returned the favour... at least for one of these seasons.
Centennial extended its winning streak to six after beating Durham in four sets (22-25, 25-15, 27-25, 26-24) at the Athletic and Wellness Centre. With the win, the Colts improve to 9-3 on the season while the Lords fall to 8-4. After losing the first set, Centennial won the next three sets, unanswered.
"I think we're learning to play the game a little bit smarter so we don't beat ourselves too many times," Colts head coach Matthew Cheung said. "There's a couple of attributes that we need to learn to be special at and that is serving tough, to pass well and defend well."
The win also marks a season sweep by Centennial of Durham, which is the first time it has ever happened.
"Durham, over the years, has always been one of those schools that's always had a strong program. They get good athletes in," Cheung said. "Winning against Durham is always special, for sure.
Centennial slightly beat Durham in kills (39-35) and digs (41-37); both teams were tied in assists (31-310 and blocks (6-6). The major stat that tipped in the Colts' favour, however, was the service game, and they had 15 service aces compared to the Lords' nine.
"We've got some tough servers," Cheung said.
Four Colts finished in double figures. Mari Pikkov and Emily Joe led all scorers with 14 points each; both of them had eight kills each as well. Pikkov had five aces while Joe had four aces and two blocks.
Shanelle Woods and Elizabeth Chow each had 10 points. Woods had a game high three blocks while Chow had a game high nine kills. Heather Sanchez led the Colts in digs with eight and had a team high 27 assists.
For Durham, Sarah Rayment had 11 points on eight kills in defeat.
Durham took a 14-11 lead in the first set before Centennial, highlighted by a pair of kills from Woods, rallied off four straight. However, the Lords then scored four in a row and took the lead in the set for good, eventually taking the first set, 25-22.
The Lords had an early 5-3 lead in the second set before Centennial scored five straight points, with the last four coming off of errors from Durham. It was 18-14 for the Colts midway through when they scored seven of the next eight points to take the second set, 25-15, which was capped off by a kill from Joe. Chow had four kills during that run and had five in the set alone.
The home team then came out flying to start the third set as they scored the first seven points, with four of them on aces from Pikkov during that stretch. However, Durham went on a 12-4 run to wipe that lead rather quickly. Both teams then exchanged runs and points for most of the set before a block from Pikkov and a lengthy rally that ended on a miscommunication from the Lords led to Centennial taking an exciting third set, 27-25.
"We still need to work on it," Cheung said about the team's resolve. " We don't resolve that well but generally we're learning to play well at the end of sets."
The fourth set saw another back-and-forth set that seemed to go the Colts' way as they had a 22-19 lead as Durham called timeout. However, the Lords came back to tie the set at 23, leading to a frantic finish. After Bowers hit a kill that just went in, Pikkov committed a service error.
But the turning point came when Joe had a massive block to give the Colts a 25-24 lead. A set error from Durham sealed the match as Centennial won the fourth set, 26-24, and the match.
"I'm more happy than the third (and fourth) set(s) than the second set," Cheung said. "I have to credit the players (for their poise)."
Centennial heads on the road to Barrie this Friday as they look to avenge an earlier defeat against the Georgian Grizzlies at 6:00pm.