By JEFF BOMBEN
The Conestoga College men’s volleyball team showed resilience but fell short to the more experienced Sheridan Bruins in an entertaining four-set match on Jan. 18.
Conestoga lost the match, 18 to 25, 25 to 15, 25 to 19 and 25 to 19. The Condors’ record dropped to 1 and 11 after the loss.
The team came out strong and looked determined after dominating the first set. But inexperience caught up with them as the older and more experienced Sheridan Bruins won the final three sets.
The Bruins featured a lineup that included two national champions and four former club players.
Winning the first set meant Conestoga broke a streak of 21 sets without a set victory.
Men’s head coach, Ariel Castromayor, talked about the team’s first set victory, “We came out and showed what our potential is,” he said, adding the players were crisp, had very few errors and were really scrappy.
Conestoga stuck with the veteran Bruins and pleased their coach with their effort. “We stayed with them and, overall, I am much more pleased the way they played tonight,” he said.
Castromayor talked about the importance of his team learning from every mistake. “I am not a coach who punishes for poor performance, I may discipline for poor decisions because everyone is responsible for their decisions. If you play poorly because of lack of experience, it’s just a part of the learning curve. If you make a poor decision, you correct it,” Castromayor said.
Third-year architecture-construction engineering technology student, Jon Moser, was excited about the team’s first set victory but talked about the team falling apart in the second set.
“We were just tired of losing. I think going into the second set we got a little too comfortable knowing that we just came off a win,” Moser said.
“We still have a few things to work on but there’s positives coming out of every game. If we practise hard, we play well and that’s what we have been doing lately.”
Moser, the only returning player from last year’s squad, has stepped up as a leader of the club and continues to be very positive about the team moving forward.
“I just keep telling them that every game we have a chance. I don’t care what the stats are, I don’t care what our previous record is, it’s our attitude on and off the court and how we play,“ Moser said.
In other action, Conestoga’s women’s volleyball team held on to win a thrilling five-set match against the Sheridan Bruins.
The Lady Condors won the first two sets, 27 to 25 and 25 to 14 but then lost the third and fourth sets, 25 to 27 and 24 to 26.
After the Lady Condors lost the fourth set, they dominated in the fifth and final set, winning 15 to 8. This was the team’s third straight win.
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