Men’s volleyball: Wolves split final two regular season games heading into playoffs
The Wolves men’s volleyball team split their two games over the weekend of Feb. 1 and Feb. 2, winning against the Fleming Phoenix and losing against the Durham Lords to secure the seventh seed in the east.
The Wolves went against the Phoenix in Peterborough for their first matchup of the weekend.
The Phoenix were eager to get revenge for the 3-0 loss to the Wolves earlier in the season and won the first set of the game.
Both teams traded points during the first set, but the Wolves’ attacking mistakes proved too costly, as they racked up 12 errors in the first set.
The following two sets saw the Wolves take control of the game as they won the second set by eight points and the third set by 11 points.
The Wolves’ offence found its footing, beating Fleming 22-13 in kills during these two sets.
The fourth set proved another close contest as both teams were tied at 29. Well into extra points, Wolves hitter Liam Arnold-Paquette delivered two consecutive aces, giving the Wolves a 3-1 win in the match.
On Sunday, the Wolves went up against the Durham Lords in Oshawa.
Durham raced out to an early lead, winning the first two sets by an identical score of 25-19.
Facing a sweep, the Wolves took the third set into extra points and ended up winning 29-27 on the back of Arnold-Paquette’s set-sealing kill.
The Wolves’ stellar play continued into the fourth set as they won 25-22, forcing a deciding fifth set.
With Arnold-Paquette and Karl Rawlins on fire, the Wolves had an opportunity to reverse sweep Durham, a revenge of sorts for the reverse sweep they suffered against Georgian College on Jan. 25.
The two schools were closely matched in the final set, with Algonquin ultimately coming up short. Durham won the set 20-18, winning the game 3-2.
The Wolves finished the regular season with a record of 8-10.
After a weekend of travelling and a four-month season, Algonquin’s road to the championship is still a long one. They have to travel to Sudbury and face Cambrian College, the second ranked team in the west and the third team in last year’s OCAA, on Feb. 9.
