OSHAWA, ON - The Durham Lords men's volleyball team marked their graduating seniors day with a fourth consecutive win in league play, defeating the visiting Centennial Colts in a five set performance.
 
Coming into Oshawa, Centennial opened the match by defeating the Lords 25-20 to go into the second set on top. The second was as close as it gets with the Lords squeaking by in a hard fought 26-24 victory to tie things up at one a piece.
 
In the third set, it appeared to be just as close as its been all game with another 24-24 score line. Just like the previous set, the Lords found the points they needed to go ahead by two and won it 26-24.

With the match on the line, the Colts found some momentum and repeated their first set score line with a 25-20 win to force a winner-take-all fifth frame. In the fifth, the Lords got hot late to take the lead after switching sides of the court - eventually taking the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.

Athlete of the Week Josh Padmore (Hamilton, ON) had 11 kills on 21 attempts with a team-leading nine blocked shots on the day. Tyler Jegen (Calgary, AB) was the leader in kills with 15, blocking four shots for 19.0 points in the match. Jegen also recorded a team-leading 10 digs. Michael Penney (Whitby, ON) also hit double-digit kills with 10 on 12 attempts, in addition to seven blocked shots.

Kyle Travis (Courtice, ON) was a reliable playmaker, accounting for 36 of 42 assists.

As a team, the Lords found a lot of their points at the net - blocking a total of 29 shots to Centennial's six.
 
The Lords have two matches left on the schedule in regular season play. Next Friday, Durham will travel to North Bay for a match against the Canadore Panthers. They will finish off the schedule the next day in Barrie against the Georgian Grizzlies.
 
GRADUATING SENIORS
 
#3 Nandor Gallo
Gallo is an Artificial Intelligence Analysis, Design and Implementation student from Oshawa. Appearing in 15 matches, Gallo has 74 kills on 227 total ttempts, along with 44 digs, eight assists, seven blocked shots and a service ace.
 
#7 Josh Clarke
Clarke has 13 kills on 25 total attempts this season in 10 matches played. A homegrown talent from Oshawa, Clarke will be graduating from the PR & Strategic Communications program.
 
#13 Kyle Travis
Travis is an Electrical Engineering Technician student from Courtice. In 15 matches played, he has been a leader all over the stat sheet. With 383 assists on the season, Travis is 8^th provincially and also 9^th in assists per set with 7.30. He has also been incredible at the net, 12^th in the OCAA in blocked shots with 27.
 
#14 Mitchell Abaza
Abaza has played in 10 matches this season, posting three kills on 12 total attempts and serving three aces. Nearing the end of his studies in the Police Foundations program, Abaza came to the Lords program from Thornton.
 
#15 Sebastian Szczepek
Szczepek is a Finance – Business student from right here in Oshawa. In nine appearances so far in 2021-22, he has registered four kills on 19 total attempts, a pair of digs, a pair of assists and a service ace.
 
#17 Michael Penney
Penney has been a force at the net all season. With 35 total blocked shots he is 5^th in the OCAA, and with 0.74 blocks per set he is 6^th provincially. To date, Penney also has 67 kills, 17 digs, six service aces and six assists. Staying close to home in his commitment to DC, the Marketing – Business major is from Whitby.
 
#18 Jacques Tournadre
Tournadre is an Emergency Services Fundamentals student from Milton, set to graduate from his program this spring. In 13 matches played, Tournadre has recorded nine kills on 22 total attempts, 73 digs, four service aces and three assists.
 
Statistics as of February 3, 2023

OVERALL RECORD: 13-14
CONFERENCE RECORD: 10-6
NEXT MATCH: Friday, February 10, 2023 vs. Canadore Panthers • 8:00 PM • North Bay, ON


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