LONDON, Ont. -- For the second straight meeting, the Sheridan Bruins men's volleyball team (7-7 OCAA) took the OCAA's top ranked team in Fanshawe to five sets, but came up just short in a 3-2 loss.

"This was a big match for us as we are chasing a playoff spot in the tough OCAA West Division," head coach Frank Pento said. 

The Bruins had a slow start in be first set, and were not able to recover, falling to the Falcons 25-16.

The second set had a similar story line with a slow start from the Bruins except the boys in blue showed a bit more fight, however their comeback fell just short at 25-22 set loss.

Facing defeat, a resilient Sheridan team really stepped up in sets three and four, jumping out to early leads in both and the Bruins were able to hold off late surges by the Falcons to square this match at 2-2 (25-18, 27-25).

Unfortunately the Bruins ran out of gas and an early slip up in the fifth set saw Fanshawe take an 8-4 lead at the turnaround, a lead which they would not give up as they closed out the match with a 15-9 victory.

The Bruins had standout performances from first year right side Parvir Jhajj (23 kills), and first year middle Maccauley Ross (11 points on eight kills, one ace and two blocks).

"Parvir really helps take the load off of our left side attackers as he is very dynamic and is always a threat to score," said Pento. "Maccauley has really stepped up over the past month, and has gotten better with each match we have played. He is becoming a force in the middle, offensively and defensively."

Although he had certainly been hoping for a different outcome, Pento was more than happy with the effort level of his club.

"You are never happy with a loss but I'm really proud of the way our guys competed in a tough matchup on the road," he said. "Fanshawe is one of the best teams in the country, and our guys showed a lot of heart being able to come from behind. A positive we can take out of this is that we know we can compete against any team on the country, and the way we defend gives us a chance to win every match. We need to regroup as we travel to Windsor on Saturday in a match that has huge playoff implications. St. Clair is right behind us for that final playoff spot, and we need a great performance to steal one in their gym."