OSHAWA, ON - Durham College hosted its annual women's volleyball Adidas Cup over the weekend, with the Lords defeating the Canadore Panthers in the championship match.
This Adidas Cup win would mark three straight victories in this tournament for the Lords as they prepare themselves for the second half of the 2022-23 OCAA season.
Durham began the tournament on Friday with three matches in the best-of-three round robin. The Lords swept Seneca 2-0 (25-15; 25-16) in the first match of the day, before beating Cambrian 2-0 (25-12; 25-18) in the 1:00 PM time slot. Durham played their third and final match of the day against the Redeemer Royals, capping off a perfect day with another 2-0 (25-14; 25-11) win.
On Saturday, the Lords rounded out the round robin in the morning with a fourth and final match against the CMU Blazers, having travelled all the way from Manitoba to participate in the Adidas Cup. This one would be the most tightly contested match for Lords, winning in three sets, 2-1 (25-21; 23-25; 15-12).
An undefeated 4-0 record placed the Lords at the top of Pool A, which sent the hosts into the championship match against the top seeded team from Pool B. Determining this was easier said than done, after an evenly contested Pool B saw all five teams finish tied with a 2-2 record. Following a number of tiebreaker scenarios laid out by the OCAA, we were able to seed the five teams and it was the Canadore Panthers that came out on top and earned a berth in the championship match.
The two sides had met once this season already in regular season action, with Durham winning in four sets on November 5, 2022.
As recent history as shown, this matchup would be another close affair with the first set running long. Durham ultimately went up 1-0 in the best-of-three showdown with a 27-25 win in the first set, before holding off Canadore 25-21 in the second set to take home the Adidas Cup for another year.
Jessica Joensen (Durham) earned tournament MVP honours, while teammates
Katie Stewart and
Amanda Larsen were named tournament all-stars. Carlie Papanno (Canadore), Logan Thompson (Canadore), Rachel Annett (Redeemer) and Abbey Gooder (Niagara) also received all-star awards.
Durham leap back into regular season action on Thursday, January 19 at 6:00 PM with a trip to Peterborough for their second meeting of the season with the Fleming Knights.
