HUMBER 3, SHERIDAN 1

REXDALE, Ont. - Timing, as they say, is everything. In the case of the Sheridan Bruins men's volleyball team (11-6, 3-2 OCAA) their trip to Humber came at a time when the reigning Ontario and national champions had lost two in a row.

As a result, it was a spirited effort from the home side and while the Double-Blue were game for 80-per cent of the match, some late stumbles pushed them to a 3-1 loss.

"On the compete scale, we competed hard and gave it a 10. On the execution side, when it mattered, when it was 20-20, or 20-19, we weren't good enough," head coach Dave McAllister said. "You cannot beat really good teams if you don't serve well, pass well or fail to make digs that are right at you. They made them, we didn't and until we do we're going to be close, but in sports close is not good enough."

In the first two sets, the Bruins slowly found themselves in three or four point deficits and were unable to claw back, ultimately losing both, 25-22 and 25-19.

It looked to be more of the same in the third set as a close battle slowly started to slip from the grasp of the Double-Blue, falling into a 20-15.

However this time Sheridan rallied, scoring seven of the next eight points and went on to win the set 25-23.

The late set struggled returned in the fourth however as - tied at 18 points apiece - Humber scored seven of the final 10 points to take the set (25-21) and the match.

Josh Butler led the way with 15 points (13 kills, two blocks) while Brandon Rivera (six kills, four blocks) was also in double figures.

Other than blocks - where the Double-Blue held a narrow 9-8 advantage - Humber led all statistical categories: 53-32 in kills, 6-2 in aces, 61-43 in digs and 67-43 in total offence.

While that discrepancy doesn't quite match that of what they scoreboard read, it gives McAllister hope that with the way they are preparing the team can improve upon their execution.

"We're practicing just as hard or harder than anyone, but we're not executing with the best two or three teams yet," he said.

The road doesn't get any easier either, as they travel to Redeemer on November 24.

McAllister knows that the two sides have produced some thrilling, white-knuckle volleyball in the past couple seasons and says that it's indicative of the depth in the conference.

"That's just life in a really good league where every team can beat every team," he said. "So we'll have to recover and we need to play better. We're going to go into a really loud gym and a great place to play with an awesome atmosphere. I'm expecting another hard-fought five-setter and somehow, some way we need to make plays after 20 instead of talking about it."

Source: Sheridan I.T.