January 24th is the Durham Lords Men’s volleyball team’s chance to get a win after last weekend’s loss. Durham will be hosting the Seneca Sting at 6 p.m. Durham has had two losses this year while Seneca has had one, and Sports Information and Marketing Coordinator, Scott Dennis, says the Lords are looking to tie things up.
Scott Dennis, Sports Information and Marketing Coordinator
Seneca defeated Durham last year, they are first in the OCAA East division, and Durham is right behind them in second place.
Dennis says the team has studied the video from their last game and are looking to team stars like centre Riley McAllister, Craig Lush and jersey 12 Bradley VanHartingsveldt, who was last year’s OCAA East Region Rookie of the Year.
“First year centre Riley McAllister is doing a great job of running the offense, he’s distributing the ball well,” says Dennis, adding that Port Perry native, Lush, is a big presence in the middle.
Durham lost three nothing against the Loyalist Lancers in Bowmanville last Friday.
“It was a tough loss,” says Dennis, “They have a smaller gym, so there was probably a lot of pressure.” As for Durham College’s next game, “I’m sure coach [Andrew] Hinchey has a game plan in place.”
Durham College has qualified for the OCAA provincial championships for the fourth year in a row. DC News reporter Ana Pautassi has the details for the provincial championship.
Awards for the Durham Men’s Volleyball players just keep coming. The Lords competed in the provincial championships this weekend and, although they came in fifth place, they still brought home some hardware. Brad VanHartingsveldt, Durham’s new starting setter, stormed onto the radar and was named the OCAA East Region Rookie of the Year.
Record, set, go! The men’s volleyball team at Durham College is on a record-winning streak.
Three senior players reached milestone marks in their careers this season and this is the fourth straight season the Lords have won at least 20 games.
They won their 20th game Friday 3-0 against the George Brown Huskies in Toronto and player P.J. Cornelius earned his 500th point. “There’s only been a few players who’ve ever reached 500 so it felt great to do it and win the game,” said Cornelius.
He joins teammates Steve Clarey and Dave McMann who’ve also reached this career high. McMann set the OCAA record for most blocks in a season Tuesday night and is just five blocks shy of taking the OCAA title of most blocks in a career away from St. Claire’s Corey Cole.
Head coach Andrew Hinchey said P.J’s done a great job in the second half and expects him to be an integral asset in the playoffs. He said McMann’s a great fifth year vet and his hard work in practice has paid off.
The coach also said that Clarey’s been one of the best captains he’s ever worked with. “He leads his team by example on and off the court and his outstanding play is what every coach wants,” said Hinchey. “When it comes down to crunch time, he’ll get the team the point they need.”
Dave McMann broke the OCAA record for blocks in a season on Feb 7th against Loyalist.
The OCAA record was at 69 and McMann pushed through with 70 stuffed blocks. The Lords still have two games left. McMann has a 193 block record now which moves him up to second place in the OCAA all-time charts.
Dave McMann beats the OCAA record for most blocks in a season.
Although McMann pushed through for the Lords, this is his last year on the team. He would still like to play for the Lords but this is his fifth year. He has graduated from the Golf Management program and is currently taking Accounting.
“Yeah, I’m pretty disappointed I can’t play next year but it was a good time,” said McMann.
Seneca and Humber held the previous record of 69 in 2001 and St.Clair matched the record in 2010. Durham is now tied with Loyalist for third place in the OCAA East region.
McMann said his key to success is practicing more and doing more reps. Also, one of the assistant coaches worked very closely with him. He said because he can’t play next year he’d like to be an assistant coach.
The Lords play away at George Brown Feb 1oth at 8 and their last game is in Barrie against Georgian on Feb. 15th. The men currently sit at a 19 and 9 on the season.
Durham College Men’s basketball team was named team of the week by the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association. DC News reporter Kate Kemp gets the scoop on how the team’s season is going so far.
The Durham Lords are warming up to play the OCAA championship next week.
The Durham Lords men’s basketball team has made it into the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championship for the first time since 1998.
The OCAA championship takes place in Sault Ste. Marie from March 3-5.
The Durham Lords ended the season on a five game winning streak, with an 84-76 win over the Algonquin Thunder, who won the east region with a 19-1 record.
Athletic Coordinator Michael Duggan says this year’s team had a lot of experience that helped them reach their goal of qualifying for the OCAA championship.
“The team actually gelled a lot better this year with Coach Desman bringing in some new recruits and bringing in some key pieces that we were missing in the years past,” says Duggan. ”I think that they all believed in each other and that’s a big difference. If everyone’s playing together as one unit, you can go a long way.”
Durham Lords captain Courtney Small is very excited about making it into the OCAA. He says he’s just trying to relax to help prepare him for the championship coming up.
“I’m just drinking a lot of water and relaxing,” says Small. “I’m trying not to over think it and just go in there and do my thing.”
Unfortunately, there are no fan buses for people interested in going to the championships in Sault Ste. Marie.
The Lords’ first round opponet will be the Fanshawe Falcons from London, Ontario on Thursday, March 3. The time of the game is still to be announced.
In this video below, Duggan explains why the OCAA championships are so important to the Durham Lords men’s basketball team.
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.
The Durham Lord men’s basketball team has been on a tear this season as they have only lost four contests all year in 14 games. The team, which fields a veteran group, brings lots of experience, as they are battle tested in the Ontario College Athletic Association basketball league.
Currently the Lords have won ten games and are sitting in second place in the eastern division. Along with their regular season success Durham has also earned achievement in tournament games as well. Durham was successful in winning the Dave Stewart Tip-Off tournament in early October, defeating the Fanshawe Falcons 82-67.
They also had a great tournament at the SAIT Christmas classic in Calgary this past Christmas as they finished in second place losing to Northern Alberta Institute 81-67. Although the team hasn’t dominated recently in its games the team still has the support of the fans. “Hopefully they can get in the top two,” said Durham Lords men’s basketball fan Mike. “ Then they can go right to the OCAA championships.”
With the regular season winding down the Lords have five home games left, then the playoffs and finally the Canadian College Athletic Association national championship, which is hosted at Durham College on March 17-19. The national championship will feature the conference winners from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Atlantic Provinces, two wild card teams and the host Durham.
This will be the first time that the Lords have hosted the national championship and if they continue to build on their successful season so far and bring it into the playoffs they could be a tough contender to knock off in March on their home court.
