OAKVILLE, Ont. (By Kevin John Sacdalan) -- The Sheridan Bruins men's volleyball team (7-7, 4-4 OCAA) got back in the win column this past Saturday, defeating the St. Clair Saints in four sets.
The first set of the match was tightly contested and would end up in St. Clair's favour, 25-23.
They took the lead and held onto it, but had the Bruins on their heels the entire time.
Although the Bruins made a late push to try to steal the set, St. Clair escaped to take the match lead.
The intensity continued to ramp up in the second set with both teams exchanging kills.
This time, it was the Bruins who had the early set lead and held on, 25-19, to tie the match up at a set apiece.
"The guys in the second set really started to believe that we can win once we started to play our style of volleyball," Bruins' head coach Frank Pento said.
The third and fourth sets were back and forth with neither team gaining momentum or a significant edge.
However, it was the Bruins who found a way to squeeze out a victory in both sets to take the match. Both the third and fourth sets finished with a score of 25-22.
"It's going to be great for our confidence," Pento said. "I'm very proud of this win. It's a great team win."
This match puts an end to the Bruins' losing skid, getting them back up to a .500 record for the season.
"Our ability to stay engaged in this game was higher than most other games that we've played recently and when it came down to it after 20, we were able execute," Pento said. "We made some really big digs and we made some really big kills and when two good teams are playing, the team who's better after 20 is going to win and tonight it happened to be us."
The Bruins will try to build off this win and end the first half of the season on a high note against the Mohawk Mountaineers (7-1 OCAA).
"It's a huge game," Pento said on their upcoming matchup. "Mohawk is one of the top teams in the country. We've seen them once in a tournament. We had a five-set match against them earlier in the season."
That match will be on the road in Hamilton on Dec. 7.
"They're extremely tough to beat and it's in their gym," Pento added. "We're going to work as hard as we can this week to prepare and try to steal one in their gym."