SHERIDAN 3, CANADORE 0

OAKVILLE, Ont. - In season where the road to an OCAA championship runs through their gym the Sheridan Bruins men's volleyball team (9-5, 1-1 OCAA) kicked off their conference schedule with a 3-0 win over Canadore and 3-1 loss to Nipissing.

"It was a pretty big match in the sense that they're ranked number one, they're going to the OUA next year, and they've got some really good players, so it was a good litmus test for us," head coach Dave McAllister said after the loss to Nipissing. "And I think we got to see exactly what we are: we can be really, really great, or we can be really, really awful. For a coaching staff, that's frustrating because you're looking for consistency."

In their opener against Canadore, the Double-Blue struggled with maintaining their intensity for the entirety, but still produced a 25-21, 25-20, 25-16 win.

They held a 58-22 advantage in total offence, producing 44 kills, one ace and 13 blocks.

Josh Butler led the way with 14 points (11 kills, three blocks) while Brandon Rivera (six kills, five blocks) was also in double figures.

Against Nipissing the Bruins won the first set 28-26 before dropping the next three 25-21, 25-10 and 25-16.

Kadeem Clarke had 11 points (10 kills, one block) while Butler (eight kills, one ace, one block) also hit double digits.

The club will play their third in a run of four matches on their home floor to start their conference slate when they host Niagara on November 8.

McAllister says the club will take a day to re-group and then immediately start the process of focusing on the next match.

"After two matches in two days, we'll take Monday off and then we'll go hard in practice on Tuesday and Wednesday," he said. "Niagara is certainly an improved team and we know that every night in this league is going to be a battle. Every single night we're going to have to play well to win, that's the way it's going to be."

Source: Sheridan I.T.