Durham boasts undefeated start to the season
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
When does a winning streak move from the realm of the normal into the surprising? Well, for Durham College women’s volleyball coach Tony Clarke, that would be around the halfway point of the season and your team still remains undefeated.
“Is it surprising? Yes, but also no, because we have a very talented squad,” Clarke says.
And that talented squad has been racking up the wins entering the holiday break – the halfway point of the Ontario College Athletics Association (OCAA) season – with a 9-0 record. It marks the first time a women’s volleyball team has posted such a record at Durham College since the 2003-2004 season.
Clarke pins it down to plain and simple experience, as more girls with OCAA play under their belts have joined the ranks.
“When you have players that come in that have prior experience in the OCAA or the OUA, it’s very helpful that way,” Clarke says, noting the team has a strong veteran core.
Returning player Allison Marshall has been a leader on the court for Durham, and finishes the first half of the season not only as the team’s kill leader, with 3.16 per set, but also the team’s point leader with 4.1 per set.
“She’s been doing really well, (and) she’s stepping up,” Clarke says of Marshall’s play. “This year is her last year, her last kick at the can, so she’s really trying to push forward and leave with a good legacy.”
Legacy may also be on the minds of other players as the team looks to make good on some unfinished business from last season, when some unfortunate circumstances and sick players saw the team miss out on an OCAA medal.
However, a trip to the nationals did have some benefits for the team and for Clarke himself.
“Just seeing the level of volleyball there, that kind of changes my mindset of where we need to go and what we need to do to be better, to compete at that higher level,” he says.
Durham currently sits atop the OCAA Eastern Conference, ahead of the second place Algonquin College, who sit with an 8-1 record, and the 7-2 Georgian College in third.
The Lords will have some time off until the new year when they will take part in the Adidas Cup on Jan. 6 and 7 at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre.