Lords outlast Panthers, hold top spot in OCAA east division

It started out looking like it would be a cakewalk, but the Durham College women’s volleyball team had to grind out a 3-2 victory over the second-place Canadore Panthers on Sunday.

The Lords opened the match with 25-23 and 25-20 set wins. However, the third saw Canadore looking like a completely different team, with the Panthers dominating in a 25-11 set victory.

Canadore carried that momentum into the fourth – eventually winning 25-19.

In the fifth, the Lords held the lead when the teams switched sides, but after Canadore went on a run trailed 11-8. The Lords tied it 11-11 before Canadore went ahead 13-11 to force a timeout by Durham head coach Tony Clarke.

Durham battled back to tie it and force it to go into extra points, eventually taking a 16-15 lead to force a Panther timeout. The trading of points continued until eventually Kristen Curtis finished it off with a service ace to win 21-19.

Durham will continue their home stand on Thursday night against the Seneca Sting. Their final regular season home game will get underway at 6 p.m. with a short ceremony to recognize their graduating seniors immediately after the match.