Box Score OSHAWA, Ont. – It started out looking like it would be a cakewalk, but the Durham College women's volleyball team had to grind out a 3-2 victory over the second place Canadore Panthers on Sunday at the CRWC.
 
The Lords opened the match with 25-23 and 25-20 set wins, but in the third looked like a completely different team as the Panthers dominated with a 25-11 set victory.
 
Canadore carried their momentum into the fourth - eventually winning 25-19.
 
In the fifth the Lords held the lead when the teams switched sides, but after Canadore went on a run trailed 11-8. The Lords tied it 11-11 before Canadore went ahead 13-11 to force a timeout by Durham head coach Tony Clarke.
 
Durham battled back to tie it and force it to go into extra points, eventually taking a 16-15 lead to force a Panther timeout. The trading of points continued until eventually Kristen Curtis (Frankford, Ont.) finished it off with a service ace to win 21-19.
 
Jessica Broad (Courtice, Ont.) had a season-high 17 kills to lead the Lords offence, while adding three service aces. Broad also tied Curtis with a game-high four blocks.
 
Allison Marshall (Orillia, Ont.) picked up 12 kills, 14 digs, four aces and a block to help Durham in the five-set victory. Megan Romain (Ajax, Ont.) had 40 assists alongside her season-high 15 digs.
 
The Panthers looked to Caitlin Hebert offensively as she led the team with 24 kills, most of which came from Lauren Kuehni who had 47 assists. Lindsay Vanderweide and Katie Maeck each picked up 14 and 11 kills respectively.
 
Durham will continue their home stand on Thursday night against the Seneca Sting. Their final regular season home game will get underway at 6 p.m. with a short ceremony to recognize their graduating seniors immediately after the match.
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE LORDS
Overall Record: 19-4
Conference Record: 17-1
 
Next Match: Thursday, Feb. 11 vs. Seneca Sting (6 PM)