OSHAWA, ON - Women's volleyball went the distance on Country Night as Durham College came from behind to defeat the Canadore Panthers in five sets.

Durham had their first taste of regular season competition since December 1 on Saturday evening and were looking to start the winter semester off on the right foot.

The two sides were regularly within two points of each other in the opening set, regardless of who was in the lead, but the Lords looked like they were going to run away with it a little when they went up 21-15 for their largest lead of the set.

Canadore would score consecutive points to bring the score within one, and eventually found themselves up 24-22. The Lords scored twice to tie it and force extra serves when Amanda Larsen (Toronto, ON) recorded a massive block at the net. Unfortunately for the hosts, that was their last point of the set and Canadore took it 26-24.

The Panthers carried that momentum into the second set, leading 8-2 to force an early timeout from the Lords bench. Durham clawed their way back to a point where they seemed poised to tie the match when they led 24-20 and only needed one more point to take the set.

At that point, Canadore scored six unanswered points to win the second set by an identical 26-24 score.

Canadore kept their feet on the gas early on in the third set, scoring five of the first six points. With their backs up against the wall and a refusal to be swept on their home court, the Lords went on a 7-0 run to take the lead back and they would not look back. Durham battled hard to win 25-20, the largest set win of the match.

This time it was Durham putting five of the first six points on the board to open the fourth set and they kept enough distance on the board to take the fourth set 25-21 and force a fifth and final deciding set.

The Panthers were up 4-1 early in the shortened fifth set, but a kill from Larsen sparked momentum on the side of the Lords as they would find themselves up 8-7 by the time the teams switched sides of the court and continued that momentum onto the other side, winning the fifth set 15-10 and kicking off the winter semester with a win.

Larsen finished the game as the team leader in blocks with five, also adding 11 kills, a pair of service aces and two digs. She was the team leader in points with 18.0.

Aislinn Pedersen (Hamilton, ON) tied her season-high for kills with 14, first done on November 11 at Loyalist. In total, she posted 14 kills on 44 total attempts with six digs and two service aces.

Chelsea Oke (Brooklin, ON) was also a standout, registering 12 kills, nine digs, three assists and two solo blocks.

Stefanie Ciz (Cambridge, ON) rose to the occasion, playing a full five sets and recording 37 assists as the lead playmaker.

The Lords return to the Campus Recreation & Wellness Centre on Thursday, January 18 against the George Brown Huskies at 6:00 PM for their annual Bell Let's Talk night.

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