By Caio Miari

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL RECAP

Senior’s Day, team scoring title, and a first home win. It was a quite enjoyable Saturday afternoon for left side Stella Dada.

Completing her second year with the team, Dada scored 13 points to help the Centennial Colts clinch a 3-0 victory (25-22, 25-22, 25-22) over the Fleming Knights at the Athletic and Wellness Centre (AWC). 

The Colts' first home-soil triumph of the season came behind another bounce-back performance, an effort praised by the team captain.

“We started off not knowing what we’re going to do,” Dada said, post-game. “But we went in there with our heads up high like ‘Let’s just play our game.’ And then we just turned our wheels, we played hard, and we came out with a win. I'm really proud of the team.”

Dada, who finished the season as Centennial’s top scorer (172 points), was one of the four Colts’ seniors to be honoured at the beginning of the match as graduate athletes, along with middles Vicky Wong and Tiera-Lyn Ragbeer and setter Mary Stephanie Lomingkit. 

“It was very emotional to hear the coaches saying their final goodbyes,” Dada said. “I just knew it was the end of very hard work, just determination, and pushing through everything that happened throughout the season, good or bad. 

“I’m just proud of everybody and happy with that ceremony."

For the Colts, Jada Bradford and Doris Lam scored 10 and seven points, respectively, while Julia Reynolds topped the Knights (0-18) in scoring with nine. 

Colts and Knights made a close first set, with Centennial breaking a late 22-22 tie with three unanswered points to close the period. In the second, the Colts put up a hard effort once again to extend the scoreboard advantage.

“The speech that Adriana gave us and I also gave the girls was just slow everything down,” Dada said about the in-game adjustments. “They were playing a very low-hitting game, so we just have to be more patient, control the ball more.”

After overcoming a 15-12 deficit midway through the second set, Centennial put down a 22-21 disadvantage behind another late run after a timeout, making its way to a clinch the match in straight sets.

The Colts finish their 2019/20 campaign with a 3-15 record.

Despite the negative results, Dada took a very important lesson from her team's season. 

“Definitely just being more vocal,” she said. “I tend to hold back even though I’m captain, but just being more vocal, saying things when they need to be said … Being very good teammates with everybody, I think that’s the last thing I can take from this whole thing.”

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL RECAP

The Centennial Colts finished their season — and put a cherry on top of the cake of their Senior’s Day ceremony — with a 3-2 thrilling comeback victory (15-25, 25-23, 25-23, 19-25, 15-13) against the Fleming Knights on Saturday afternoon at Progress Campus.

Despite falling in the initial set by 10 points, the Colts bounced back to snap their three-game losing streak. 

It wasn’t a perfect performance by the home side, but the final score gives Centennial the expected result at home to close the regular season.

“We had our ups and downs,” middle Timothy Ho said, in his post-game availability. “We made errors, but in the end what’s important is that we brought ourselves back up and took the game.”

Centennial’s down moment came up early as Fleming started the match off a 12-2 run and never gave the Colts a chance in the period. 

“The first set, we weren’t there. We were just alone in our own islands,” Ho said. “After that talk (in-between sets), we tried to bring our team together -- and that’s the only way we can win it.”

In the second period, Centennial faced several deficits again but this time was able to bounce back. The home side was trailing 21-19 when setter Javed Baksh changed the narrative of the match with his strong serves to give the Colts a 6-2 set-clinching run.

In the third, Centennial kept its moment — and Baksh was in the spotlight again. 

With both sides tied 20-20, Baksh’s serves helped his team to open a 24-21 advantage, making room for the set victory.

However, the Knights (10-8) wouldn’t give up easily, as their 9-3 run to start the fourth set up the fifth set. But Centennial’s almost mistake-free performance gave the match its final numbers in the final period.

Ho contributed with 10 points, as one of the two Colts' to hit the double-digit mark. For Fleming, meanwhile, three players scored 10-plus points: Joel Howes (21), Dion Pearson-Laviolette (12), and Caleb Joose (11). 

Senior left side Marvin Reid, who posted a team-high 11 points, was happy with his team’s collective performance. 

“Every day we’re going to practice we want to win, we want to fight, we want to just play our game,” Reid said. “Honestly, it’s been amazing to be playing with this guys overall.

“It’s always grind, grind, grind and then at the end of the day you come out and win.”

Along with Reid, middles Edvaldo Hire and Jordan Nnabuogor also earned their Senior’s Day graduation ceremony before the match.

Ho, who’s been with the Colts in the past two seasons, praised the relationship built with his three teammates. 

“They are good friends of mine,” Ho said. “We were really close … it sucks to lose them, it’s like losing a family member of the team, because we’re always on road trips together, playing games together, always seeing each other in campus. 

“But they have to move on for their lives too, right?”

The Colts close their 2019/20 campaign with a 5-13 record.