Kajan Thiruthanikasalam (Sports Writer, Colts Athletics)

SCARBOROUGH, ONT.- It all started on Friday Nov. 24, 2017, on the road during a game against the Canadore Panthers, after the Centennial Colts dropped the first two sets in dispiriting fashion. Just before heading into the third set, Mari Pikkov made it known that they were not to mess around anymore.

"I kind of had a moment where I was giving a very strongly worded pep talk to the girls," Pikkov said. "We just needed that moment where we needed to snap out of it and start playing at our level and the way that we know we can play and then we were able to sweep them in three straight after that."

They have continued winning since then.

Make it eight straight wins as the Centennial Colts (11-3) won in straight sets (25-16, 25-18, 32-30) over the Seneca Sting (8-6) at the Athletic and Wellness Centre.

"We never bring it up. It's a good win streak but it's like something that Humber has," head coach Matthew Cheung said about the winning streak. "It's good for our program and it's showing that we're putting in the work and effort and trying to show our resolve. It's always a bonus but every game is different."

Aside from blocked shots, which was tied at three, the Colts outscored the Sting soundly in kills (37-24), assists (32-23), digs (43-29), and aces (10-0).

"We definitely serve well and that really puts the opposition in trouble right away and then we can defend off of that," Cheung said. "Service is not so much as aces all the time but as long as they (opposition) don't have a good enough pass, it takes away their options and it makes them predictable. So that's one thing that's been consistent."

Emily Joe led all scorers and four Colts players that scored in double figures wqith 14 points, with a game high 11 kills and a game high three aces.

"She's definitely a big part of our offense; she attracts so much attention that we could start really making their blockers move around even if she doesn't get set," Cheung said. "The blockers are on her so somebody else ends up open. She's been a vital part of the offense and she attacks very well."

Pikkov had 11 points on nine kills and two aces while Chow (nine kills, one ace) and Sanchez (six kills, one ace, game high three blocks) each had 10.

Meanwhile, Nadjema Soro had her first game in which she played extended minutes at home; it is her first such game since Nov. 19, 2017, against the Algonquin Thunder. Soro finished with a game high 24 assists.

"She didn't have her best game; I think she could do a little bit better defensively," Cheung said. "But for a first year player, she connects with the middles pretty well and runs a good offense."

Crystalyn O'Donnell and Lauren Watt led Seneca with nine points and eight kills each in defeat.

After winning the first set with ease by a score of 25-16, Centennial then exchanged the first 20 points of the second set with Seneca (10-10). But with Pikkov serving, the Colts rattled off nine unanswered points to effectively put the set out of reach as they took the second set, 25-18. 

"Those stuff don't really show up on the stat sheets because they only count aces and errors. Every time she serves, they (the opposition) get what we call 'one pass,'" Cheung said. "That means they just get it up and they really can only set up one option. So it makes it very predictable and we get a dig off of that and as a result, we go to transition and attack."

The third set was when it turned into somewhat of a boxing match between the two teams as it was tied at seven early on before 10 of the next 11 possible points, from both teams, were from errors, whether it was on the attack, by the serve, or simply a miscommunication play. Unfortunately, for Centennial, they committed seven of those 10 errors as Seneca took a 15-10 lead.

"I was more unhappy with the mistakes. We had a lot of chances where the ball was coming at us and we couldn't put it up in a proper way," Cheung said.

It was 18-14 in favour of Seneca when the Colts then pulled off five straight points to take a one point lead and forced the Sting to call timeout. But the visitors then scored five unanswered points of their own, capped off by consecutive Colts attack errors, forcing Centennial to use both of their timeouts of the set. 

Centennial then scored three in a row to force Seneca to call its final timeout of the set but a kill gave the Sting a chance to win the set. However, kills from Chow, Joe and Pikkov forced the set into extra points and gave the hosts a chance to win the match before a service error from Soro tied things up at 25. Both teams then traded barbs for the next 10 points before a kill from Joe and a serve from Sanchez that led to a point ended the third set, with Centennial winning it, 32-30, and the match.

"It's always good to battle it out like the third set and come out on top. It shows a lot of character; we were down the whole set and at the end, we had it tied at 24," Cheung said. "It's good character; I prefer that we defended at the start. Usually, our starts (to the game) are a little shaky so it's nice to see the girls come out and have a good start as well."

Cheung says that having the team healthy is a major factor towards the winning streak that they have.

"That's key. It's a long season; you need a very deep bench who can all contribute because people are (eventually) going to be hurt," Cheung said. "That was our struggle last year; we didn't have anybody that can come off the bench."

An example of having a deep bench was with Sanchez, who had to shift to the setter position from oustide hitter after injuries ravaged the team during the early part of the season. Cheung says that having multiple options off the bench against any team makes them more unpredictable and a lot more dangerous.

"It also gives us options if we need to change the lineup. Meilin (Carmichael) comes in and does a pretty good job and if we think that there's a better matchup where Heather sets, then we could do that," Cheung said. "Having options is key because it makes it a nightmare to gameplan against for the opposition team."

Centennial's next game is on the road against the winless George Brown Huskies on Saturday Feb. 3, at 1:00pm. Cheung says that the team can't look at the Huskies' record and expect to coast towards victory.

"They played us tough last time," Cheung said. "Even though their record doesn't know that it's a tough opponent, they do a lot of good things."

UP NEXT: On the road against the Huskies at 1:00pm on Saturday.