Durham wins a five set thriller over Niagara

BARRIE, Ont. – Durham College advanced to the OCAA men's volleyball championship semi-finals with an exhilarating 3-2 victory over the nationally ranked Niagara Knights.
 
With the Lords trailing by one point late in the fifth and final set, Brad VanHartingsveldt (Newcastle, Ont.) came up with a huge block to tie the game up at 13 points apiece. With momentum clearly on their side, the Lords pulled ahead 15-14 and were serving for the win. As Niagara looked for a way to score the game tying point, OCAA all-rookie Petrus Kuypers (Haydon, Ont.) was able to score a great block to send the Lords into the semi-finals.
 
Kuypers had one of his best games of the season as he converted on 11 of 18 attempts for a .611 kill percentage. The Lords big man was named the player of the game.
 
The quarterfinal victory over Niagara was a little bit of sweet revenge for Durham as the Knights eliminated the Lords from the OCAA championship with a 3-2 victory at Sheridan College only one season ago.
 
With the win, the Lords also set a program high in overall victories in a season as they have 25 on the year. The previous mark was set back 2010-11 when the Lords had 24 but went winless at the OCAA championship.
 
Durham looked dominant at times throughout the match as they won back-to-back sets by scores of 25-12 and 25-14 to take a 2-1 lead over the Knights. However, Niagara was able to bounce back with a 26-24 comeback victory to force the game into the fifth set.
 
Setter Riley McAllister's (Oshawa, Ont.) favourite target was VanHartingsveldt as he had 35 attacks, converting on 14 of them. The OCAA all-star was also able to pick up three assists and three blocks in the win. McAllister finished the night with 16 assists and 13 digs on the defensive end of the court.
 
Daniel Groenveld of Niagara had a game-high 18 kills on 49 attempts in the losing effort.
 
Durham's road to the provincial title does not get any easier as they match up against the No. 3 ranked Humber Hawks in the semi-finals. Game time at Georgian College in Barrie is 8 p.m. Fans can watch all of the games online at www.ocaatv.com.
 
A QUICK LOOK AT THE LORDS
Overall Record: 25-9
Conference Record: 16-2

Next Game: Fri. Feb. 21 – Semi-Finals vs. Humber (8 p.m.)