SHERIDAN 3, MOHAWK 2 (FINAL)

OAKVILLE, Ont. - On the heels of a four match losing streak, the Sheridan Bruins women's volleyball team (8-9, 2-4 OCAA) will have the opportunity to finish up the first semester on a positive note, battling their way to a thrilling five-set win over Mohawk in the first of three home matches in their final four.

"I think we were able to correct some of the mistakes that we've consistently been making over the last couple games, so that was nice to see cleaned up," assistant coach Joanna Krisko said. "We handled ourselves very well under pressure today, especially when things got tight we kept being aggressive and going after the ball."

In the early stages of the first set the Lady Bruins were able to match Mohawk point-for-point, but around the midway point started to slip behind and dropped the set 25-15.

The second set looked like it was heading down the same path, but the double-blue started having some success from the service line -- they 16 aces, half of which were produced by Melissa Cappelletti -- and were able to pull out a 25-23 win.

They split the next two sets with identical scores of 25-19 -- with Sheridan winning the third and Mohawk countering with the fourth -- to set up the deciding fifth set.

The Lady Bruins looked to be in command, taking an 11-8 lead but Mohawk battled back to not only square the set but even had three service opportunities on match point to close things out.

Undeterred the home side was able to side out all three times and then had their own opportunity to finish after a Eva Crnovic delivered a crucial kill that landed untouched in the far left corner.

They ended up with an 18-16 triumph to take the match.

Cappelletti led the way with a match-high 19 points (10 kills, eight aces, one block) while Crnkovic was also in double figures with 11 points (eight kills, two aces, one block).

The club will go on the road for the final time in the first semester, travelling to St. Clair on November 24.

Krisko says that with the relatively quick turnaround, the team won't be going too hard in practice to prepare.

"Tomorrow we're going to take it a little easy, we need to loosen up after today and make sure the girls are physically okay for the weekend," she said. "One of the problems with the long travel is that you have to get off the bus and right away try to get our legs underneath us and be ready to play. That sometime poses a problem, so we'll just try to keep our confidence up heading into that."

Source: Sheridan I.T.