OAKVILLE, ON - The Durham Lords women's volleyball team win a thrilling semi-final in three sets over the Mohawk Mountaineers to advance to Saturday's gold medal match against the Humber Hawks.

Serving first to begin the match, the Lords scored the first four points in the opening set to force the Mountaineers to burn a timeout early on. They were able to temporarily slow down Durham's momentum, eventually leading 16-15 more than halfway through the first set.

With the lead being passed around back and forth, the Lords were able to find enough of a hot streak late in the set to win it 25-22.

Mohawk came out for the second set on a mission, leading 15-9 when the Lords would call for their first stoppage. Resiliency would be the story of the match and a hard working Lords side came firing back to find themselves tied at 23 late in the set.

Katie Stewart (Gananoque, ON) capped off the second of back-to-back points with a massive kill to reach 25 points and take the second set by a 25-23 score.

Interestingly enough, the third set was eerily similar to the second. Durham used a timeout while trailing 15-9 again, and just like the previous frame found themselves down 17-11.

The good news is that the similarities would keep arising, and Durham battled to an 8-2 run to tie up the set at 19. Up by a 24-21 score and with the match on the line, Mia Hildebrandt (Winnipeg, MB) smashed the ball down for a kill to win the set 25-21 and take the match in straight sets.

Hildebrandt would go on to be named the player of the match for the Durham Lords. She ended the night with six kills on 15 total attacks.

Amanda Larsen (Toronto, ON) had a jaw dropping 10 blocked shots on the night, surpassing her season-high of four which she reached on six different occasions. Stewart registered six blocks, while Jessie Anatol (Ajax, ON) recorded three, Brooke Young (Chestermere, AB) had two and Jessica Joensen (Brooklin, ON) blocked one. Young also had all 25 assists on the night.

Joensen was very successful from the back line, serving three aces. With nine kills and six blocked shots, Stewart posted a team-leading 15.0 points. 14.0 points from Larsen and 11.0 from Joensen rounded out the three players in double-digit territory.

Durham advances to the gold medal match for the first time since 2017, where they came away with a silver medal. Eyeing down a fourth gold medal in the progam's history, a win tomorrow would make the Lords provincial champions in women's volleyball for the first time since 2002.

The match will take place at Sheridan College's Oakville campus on Saturday night at 7:30 PM. Fans can also watch live HERE.

OVERALL RECORD: 35-8
CONFERENCE RECORD: 17-1
NEXT MATCH: Saturday, February 25, 2023 vs. Humber Hawks • 7:30 PM • Oakville, ON • OCAA CHAMPIONSHIP


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