CINDERELLA REDEEMER MEETS DEFENDING CHAMP HUMBER FOR TITLE

NORTH YORK, Ont. - Recaps of Friday's OCAA men's volleyball championship matches played at Seneca College in North York, Ont.

Sheridan Bruins defeat Durham Lords 3-0 (33-31, 25-12, 25-21)
Sheridan advances to OCAA Bronze Semifinal

The Sheridan Bruins rebounded from a difficult Day 1 loss to the Redeemer Royals defeating the OCAA's East Region Champion Durham Lords on Friday afternoon at The 2011 Adidas/VSP Sports OCAA Men's Volleyball Championship. Sheridan's 3-0 victory was a complete turnaround from their opening game defeat at the hands of the Redeemer Royals. Sheridan's top players performed in this match-up as OCAA All-Star and Milton, Ont. native Cody Williams and OCAA Player of the Year Andrew Henry, of Brampton, Ont., combined for 23 Kills and 26 Points against the Lords.

Durham's P.J. Cornelius, a CCAA All-Canadian and London, Ont. native led the Lords with 12 Points and 11 Kills but offensive contributions from elsewhere in the lineup were few-and-far-between.

After a high-scoring, hard-fought first set in which both teams matched each other point-for-point until the Bruins settled the affair at 33-31, Sheridan stepped-up in the second game dominating by a 25-12 score and taking the final set 25-21.

This opening game of Day 2 was a match-up of the OCAA's No. 1 ranked team in Sheridan and the team that finished the OCAA regular season with the best record (16-2) in Durham. The Adidas/VSP Sports Players of the Game were Sheridan's Jessie Satti, of Mississauga, Ont. and Durham's Cornelius.

Nipissing Lakers defeat Fanshawe Falcons 3-1 (27-25, 26-28, 25-21, 25-22)
Nipissing advances to OCAA Bronze Semifinal

In a game in which neither team gave an inch and top players performed at their best - someone had to lose. That was the case in Game 6 of The 2011 Adidas/VSP Sports OCAA Men's Volleyball Championship this afternoon at Seneca College. A stand-out performance by Sudbury's Andre LeBlanc, who finished with a game-high 22 Kills, led the Nipissing Lakers to a 3-1 victory over the Fanshawe Falcons, as the Falcons joined the Durham Lords in being eliminated from medal contention at the tournament. Fanshawe's Scott Brannigan, of London, Ont., led the Falcons attack with 20 Kills while Chatham, Ont. native Sam Youlton put in a workman-like effort with 13 Points and 11 Kills.

The Lakers received offensive contributions from a variety of sources, which was a difference-maker in this match, as nine different players scored for Nipissing. The Falcons tied the game at one set apiece after a 28-26 second game loss but could not sustain the pressure dropping the final two frames 25-21 and 25-22.

OCAA West Region All-Star Jordan Westman, also of London, Ont., had another strong outing for Fanshawe finishing with 13 Points and 13 Kills. The Adidas/VSP Sports Players of the Game were Nipissing's LeBlanc and Fanshawe's Youlton.

Redeemer Royals defeat Mohawk Mountaineers 3-1 (28-30, 25-17, 25-17, 25-21)
Redeemer advances to OCAA Gold Medal Game

The Redeemer Royals fought tooth and nail to get here and now they will be competing for gold this Saturday at The 2011 Adidas/VSP Sports OCAA Men's Volleyball Championship hosted by Seneca College. The Royals, in front of a vocal crowd of fans bused-in from Ancaster, Ont., home of the 800-strong Redeemer University College, made their support a matter of public record at Seneca's Newnham Gymnasium this afternoon. Redeemer rode the momentum of their seventh man to a 3-1 victory over the Mohawk Mountaineers to advance to the Championship Final.

Featuring a potent offensive attack, Redeemer had four players record 10 Points or more and three players record 10 Kills or more. The Royals were led in scoring by Newmarket, Ontario's Joshua Dykhoorn who notched 16 points.

Meanwhile, in the loss, Mohawk's Justin Scapinello, OCAA Rookie of the Year and All-Star, recorded a dominant effort scoring 24 Points and 23 Kills. Mohawk took the opening set with a 30-28 victory but could not handle the strong defence of the Royals who earned 12 Blocks in the game.

Redeemer, 8-10 on the regular season, gained entry into the 2011 OCAA Men's Volleyball Championship via a playoff elimination victory over the Loyalist Lancers. They defeated the No. 1 ranked Sheridan Bruins in the opening game of the tournament. The gold medal game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. at Newnham Gymnasium. The Adidas/VSP Sports Players of the Game were Dykhoorn for Redeemer and Scapinello for Mohawk.

Humber Hawks defeat Seneca Sting 3-1 (17-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-23)
Humber advances to OCAA Gold Medal Game

In sports, there are moments that can define a season for a team; when victory hangs in the balance. Both the Humber Hawks and Seneca Sting found themselves in such a moment during the fourth and decisive set of their semi-final match-up at The 2011 Adidas/VSP Sports OCAA Men's Volleyball Championship at Seneca College on Friday night. The score tied at 21, Seneca trailing two sets to one, it was time for one of the two OCAA contenders to make a move. And Seneca blinked first. The Hawks scored on a crucial play down the stretch and won the fourth set 25-23 to advance to the Gold Medal Final and the host Sting must now win two games on Saturday to claim a medal on their home court.

The OCAA West Region Champion Hawks demonstrated why four of their players were All-Stars this season distributing the offence across nine different bodies. Humber was led by second team All-Star Paul Kemboi, of Brampton, Ont., who led the Hawks with 13 Kills and 19 Points.

Seneca started this game just the way they had intended with swagger and confidence taking the opening set 25-17 and fully engaging the boisterous home crowd. But this moment in sports did not belong to The Sting. Humber rebounded in the second set with a 25-20 victory and the rest was history. Seneca was led by Harrow, Ontario's Jason Hernandez who scored 12 Kills and 13 Points for The Sting and received valiant efforts from Scarborough, Ontario's Evan Minshall (12 Points) and fellow Scarborough native Predrag Gajic (8 Kills).

Seneca will attempt to qualify for the Bronze Medal Game on Saturday, February 26 at 11 a.m. The Bronze Medal Game will take place at 3 p.m. and the Gold Medal Game is scheduled for 5 p.m. all at Newnham Gymnasium. The Adidas/VSP Sports Players of the Game were Minshall for Seneca and Derek Quinn, who finished with seven digs, for Humber.

Saturday, February 26
Bronze Quarter-Finals
9 a.m. Nipissing vs. Mohawk
11 a.m. Sheridan vs. Seneca
OCAA Bronze Medal Game
3 p.m. TBA vs. TBA
OCAA Gold Medal Game
5 p.m. Redeemer vs. Humber

Championship Website and Webcast: http://www.senecac.on.ca/ocaa/

Source: Seneca College