SENECA 3, LOYALIST 2

On paper, the teams were a mismatch. One was 9-1 while the other entered at 4-6. On the court, the story was different. The Seneca Sting pulled out a five set win over the Loyalist Lancers in a tightly contested match.  

The Lancers continuously had the Sting on the ropes, but couldn't put away the OCAA East Division leaders in the first set. That missed opportunity allowed the Sting to finally find their game after a lengthy holiday break, battling back to win the fourth and fifth sets in convincing fashion.

The two sides battled back and forth early in the first set until Loyalist took the lead late. The Lancers clung to an 18-16 lead until Predrag Gajic came alive. Back-to-back kills by Gajic and a block by Will Oyetakin gave the Sting a 19-18 advantage. The teams battled to 23-22 until an ace by Terrence Cheung set the Sting up with set point. Seneca closed out the set 25-22 to take a one set lead.

The second set was all Lancers as Loyalist controlled the play from the beginning. The Lancers jumped out to a 7-1 lead and eventually led 12-3 before a brief run by the Sting. Loyalist looked to even the match as they led 24-12 before Seneca scored six consecutive points. A timeout by the Lancers halted the momentum and they closed out the set on the very next rally.

The third set saw the Lancers squeeze out a 25-22 win before the Sting battled back for a 25-16 fourth set victory.

The final two sets saw the emergence of Vladyslav Danyliuk who had subbed in back in the second set, but saw steady play in the match's final two sets. Danyliuk, along with a host of teammates, kept the Lancers off balance as Seneca pulled out the fifth set 15-10

Gajic led the Sting with 17 kills and four blocks. Teammates Matt McGirr (13), Jordan Darlington (9) and Danyliuk (7) also had big nights in the kill department for the Sting. Will Oyetakin, in his first match of the season, had 14 kills for the Sting and matched Gajic's team-high four blocks.  Gabriel Harrietha led Seneca with 12 digs.

Loyalist was led by Jared Moelker who had a team-high 15 kills along with Josh Lappala and Justin Greaves' eight kills. Lappala also added three blocks. Greaves was the leader for the Lancers with 10 digs.

The Seneca Sting (10-1) will host the Cambrian Golden Shield (1-9) on Saturday at 2 p.m. while the Loyalist Lancers (4-7) will host Georgian (6-4) on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Source: Seneca College