NORTH BAY, Ont. - The Sheridan Bruins men's volleyball team (10-9 OCAA) advanced to the OCAA Championship, after downing Canadore in three sets in a first round playoff match-up. 

"I'm really proud of the way our guys performed and competed," head coach Frank Pento said. "We had a couple of opportunities to secure our playoff spot earlier that we couldn't get done, but we've really done a good job in the last two matches of recognizing what was at stake. 

The first set was a nail biter, with the Bruins holding off the East's third place team 28-26. 

They made quick work in the second 25-12 and closed out the match 25-17 in the third. 

Parvir Jhajj led the was with 12 points (11 kills, one block) while Christian Dela Cruz also had 12 kills and Liam Butchereit had a match-high 10 digs. 

The Double-Blue will now advance to the OCAA Championship hosted by Mohawk and will draw the home team in the quarter-final.

Pento understands what's facing his club and is eager to see how they respond to the environment.

"It's obviously going to be a challenge. Mohawk is a great team, they've been on a bit of a roll the past month and they're going to be in their own building," he said. "But at this time of year, these matches are supposed to be a challenge. I think we'll try to stick to our routine as much as possible this week and then try to give them everything we can on Thursday night."