Lords come out on top after five years.
February 14th, 2011 | Sports | No Comments »Story, picture and video By Adriana Pacheco
Durham Lords symbol, as seen at the Campus Recreation Centre
For the first time in five years the Durham Lords men’s volleyball team has captured the OCAA East Region Championship title.
Athletic director Ken Babcock said it was a hard fought season and everyone is proud of what the Lords have accomplished.
“It was very good news that we received on the weekend. As far as our men’s volleyball program, we’ve always had very strong volleyball programs.”
Babcock said a lot of this year’s success could be attributed to excellent coaching.
“A brand new head coach, Andrew Hinchey, joined us this year. He was a unanimous choice in the selection process. He’s been nothing but aces so far with our program.”
He went on to say that under Hinchey’s coaching the Lords have not only clinched first place in the Eastern Conference, they have established a 14 -2 season record, and are now on the verge of being nationally ranked.
Babcock said the Lords are now looking forward to next weeks Playoffs.
“We’re looking forward to being at the championships and also hopefully having a competitive chance to challenge for not only a medal but perhaps an Ontario championship, which would be an amazing accomplishment for a first year head coach.”
He said even if the team were only to medal it would still make for an excellent year.
“Our men’s volleyball team has worked awfully hard at competing and buying into coach Hinchey’s coaching philosophy. It’s been a big year already so anything else on top of that is just gravy.”
The last time the Lords won a regional title was in the 2005-2006 season. That year they also won the OCAA silver medal at the provincial championships.
The Lords play this Wednesday against Trent in their last game of the regular season.
In this video, Athletic director Ken Babcock talks about coach Andrew Hinchey, and what the Lords hope to accomplish.
