SENECA 3, GEORGIAN 1

It was not their best performance of the season, but it was enough to finish off the regular season with a four-set victory over the Georgian Grizzlies.

The victory by Seneca capped a 16-4 regular season and a fourth place finish in the OCAA East Division.

The majority of the evening saw a back-and-forth battle by two evenly matches team. This was true in the first set as Seneca and Georgian exchanged points throughout the first set with neither team gaining the momentum. The Grizzlies pulled out the set 25-23 as they looked poised to enter the post-season on a high note with a marquee victory over the Sting.

Seneca rebounded in the second set in convincing fashion to even the match at one set apiece following a 25-14 set victory.

In the third set, the two teams took turns with the lead. Only Seneca was able to extend a lead beyond two points as they held leads of 10-7 and 13-10. The latter was followed by a pair of points by the Grizzlies as the teams battled to a 19-19 tie. An ace by Predrag Gagic gave the Sting a 22-20 lead, leading to a Grizzlies timeout. The timeout did little to stop Seneca from taking the set after back-to-back blocks by Jordan Darlington.

Up two sets to one, the Sting continued to go toe to toe with the Grizzlies, rarely trailing, but unable to extend their one or two point lead. An ace and kill by Gajic gave the Sting leads of 11-8 and 14-10, provided Seneca with some cushion. Errors continued to haunt the Grizzlies as Seneca held a 19-13 advantage. A pair of kills by Gajic gave Seneca a 22-16 lead which forced a Georgian timeout. Matt Handley served an ace to set the Sting up with a seven point advantage.  The Grizzlies final push came with three straight points to close the set to 23-21, but a serve into the net and kill by Vladyslav Danyliuk ended the night for the Grizzlies.

Matt McGirr and Gajic finished with 11 kills for Seneca. Jordan Darlington added nine kills and two blocks. Danyliuk and Gajic each had three aces. Will Oyetakin had a team-high three blocks.  McGirr was tops with nine digs.

Georgian was led by Lyndon Sonego who had a match-high 14 kills. Jahsan Toney added eight kills and two blocks. Jason Grimm was the team leader with four blocks. Michael Vandinther contributed seven digs.

The Seneca Sting (16-4) will host Nipissing (12-3) on Sunday at 1 p.m. in a qualifier to see who will move on to the OCAA Championship February 21-23 hosted by Sheridan.

Prior to the match, Seneca recognized five graduating student-athletes. Players recognized were Will Oyetakin, Predrag Gajic, Matt Handley, Vladyslav Danyliuk and Terence Cheung.

Source: Seneca College