OAKVILLE, ON - On Saturday night, the Durham Lords women's volleyball team ended their season with a hard fought silver medal.

The Humber Hawks came out flying in the first set, taking an 8-1 lead early on before Katie Stewart (Gananoque, ON) was able to stop the bleeding for a moment with a kill. Humber went on to take the first set 25-12.

Durham found their form to start the second set, scoring four of the first five points. But in Humber fashion, they found their way back and led for most of the set. This time however, the Lords regularly stayed within 1-2 points of the Hawks, often even tied.

Refusing to go down without a fight, the Lords pushed until the end but fell 25-23.

In the third set, Durham forced another early Humber timeout as they jumped ahead to an early 8-2 lead. Humber slowly clawed back until the scoreboard read 13-12 in their favour. The Hawks eventually won the third set 25-20 and took the gold medal in straight sets.

Stewart led her team in points, finishing the match with six kills on 18 attempts, four digs, one service ace and a blocked shot. Jessica Joensen (Brooklin, ON) and Brooke Young (Chestermere, AB) each also contributed three kills.

From the service line, Joensen and Mia Hildebrandt (Winnipeg, MB) combined for four of the Lords' six aces.

Durham were credited with 26 digs, led by Young with six, Joensen with five, Stewart with four and Devyn Fraser (Uxbridge, ON) with a trio.

Young was named the player of the match for the Lords.

The 2023 OCAA Women's Volleyball Championship all-star team included Stewart and Hildebrandt.

With the silver medal this season, the Durham College women's volleyball program now proudly has 15 medals in its history. This was their third medal in the last four seasons, and first silver since 2017.