OAKVILLE, Ont. (By Kevin John Sacdalan) -- The Sheridan Bruins women's volleyball team (10-6, 4-3 OCAA) returned to their home court this past weekend to take on the Niagara Knights, but lost in four sets extending their losing skid to two games.
In the opening set, the Lady Bruins were well within striking distance, trailing by just four points at the first timeout, 12-16. Niagara continued to extend their lead with a run that put them up by seven points; forcing Bruins head coach Scott Hunt to burn another timeout. Niagara did not let up the lead, ending the set with a furious 9-3 run to take it, 25-15.
"I just think we weren't prepared to play mentally and we let a few balls drop uncontested that can't really happen at this level," Hunt said on his team's first set.
The Lady Bruins started out the second set much better, holding the lead for the majority of the set, but Niagara would make another late run to tie the score at 20 apiece. Rallying back from the early deficit, Niagara fought their way to a second set win, 25-23.
After letting the second set slip away from them, the Lady Bruins returned the favour in the third set, making a comeback of their own. Trailing for the majority of the set and on the brink of falling in straight sets, the Lady Bruins began to play with a sense of urgency as they took a close third set, 26-24.
"I think once our serve-receive got a little more consistent we were able to compete with them, but we had too many big stretches where our first contact was a little erratic so it was tough to get control on our side of the net," Hunt said.
With momentum on their side, the Lady Bruins looked to force a fifth and final set, but Niagara proved to be too much, winning a close fourth set, 25-22.
"They're experienced so they have a lot of players that have been playing in the league for a few years so developing that consistency takes some time, which we're not at that level yet so they definitely played a little more consistent than we did," Hunt said about Niagara.
After starting their OCAA season 3-0, the Lady Bruins have dropped three of their last four matches with their lone win this month coming against Conestoga. They will look to get back in the win column this Saturday as they host the St. Clair Saints.