DURHAM 3, TRENT 1

OSHAWA, Ont. – The Durham College women's volleyball team clinched the OCAA East region title with a 3-1 win over the Trent Excalibur on senior's night at the CRWC.

With an 18-2 conference record, the Lords finish two points ahead of the Cambrian Golden Shield (17-3) for top spot in the OCAA East region. Both teams earned automatic byes to the provincial championship along with Trent (15-5), who qualify as this year's host of the event. Humber and Nipissing also advanced to the championship finishing first and second respectively in the OCAA West region.

The OCAA championship will feature the top eight teams battle it out from February 21-23 in Peterborough, Ont.

The regional title is the Lords first since 2009-10, when the team finished with a 17-3 conference record and ended up fifth at provincials.

In Tuesday night's match against Trent, a sloppy start for Durham led to the Excalibur stealing the first set by a score 26-24.

In the second set, the Lords came to life as Leah Saar (Pickering, Ont.) and company displayed a strong net presence. Saar, one of the four graduating seniors on the Lords roster, finished the game with 11 kills, two aces and two blocks. The Lords went on to take the second set by a score of 25-16.

Durham left off from where they started from in set three as it was another graduating senior, Melissa Semeniuk (Ajax, Ont.), who rallied the Lords to a 25-19 victory. Semeniuk had eight kills and a block in the match while altering numerous Trent offensive attacks at the net.

Despite a strong effort in the fourth set, the Excalibur were just over-matched as the Lords would not let up. Durham went on to take the fourth set by a score of 25-22.

Colleen McRobert (Whitby, Ont.) had a team high eight digs while Rayan Bourne (Whitby, Ont.) and Saar had six apiece.

Rebecca Van Staalduinen led all scorers in the match with 17 points, 16 of which were kills.

One of Durham's two losses this season came against Trent.

Saar, Semeniuk, McRobert and Kerri Fotherby (Newcastle, Ont.) were all honoured as graduating seniors following the game.

This will mark Durham's first trip back to the OCAA championship since the 2009-10 season. Durham's first round opponent will be determined following the OCAA qualifying weekend.

Source: Durham College