Mohawk Mountaineers women's volleyball has advanced to the OCAA Gold Medal game after defeating the Durham Lords 3-1 (25-15, 19-25, 25-14, 25-21).

The semi-final match saw the Mountaineers not only battle the Lords on the court, but also a very loud home crowd.

"Honestly, we've been fighting for a long-time to get this program some respect and putting in a lot of work on the court, but more as people in challenging adversity and challenging each other to be tough quality humans," head coach Matthew Schnarr said.

Despite coming out strong in the opening set, Mohawk struggled to find their game in the second set.

"I thought we were trying to do too much," Schnarr said.

The coach explained that the team was in control, but one serve receive sequence in the second set made them not believe. Between the second and third sets the discussion was about getting back to keeping the confidence up and playing with pride.

Veteran setter Amanda Kuiper (Woodstock, ON) put up 34 assists, six digs and three blocks.

"She was phenomenal today," Schnarr said. "We knew their middles were good and she did a great job exploiting them and making them really work hard to get the opportunities to be successful."

Sofia Spoljar (Hamilton, ON) led the Mountaineers with 11 kills.

"We didn't know what we were going to get as a first-year and as one of the youngest athletes, but I mean she played with no fear tonight," Schnarr said.

The coach also credited the bench for stepping up.

"I asked them to keep their eyes up and be supportive, and they did that," Schnarr said. "That's the total team effort that we're going to need (in the gold match)."

Mohawk also received 10 kills and four blocks from right side hitter Julia Watson (Burlington, ON).

The Mountaineers will compete in the OCAA Championships on March 17 versus the Humber Hawks at 8 p.m. The match will take place at Durham College in Oshawa.

If you are a Mohawk student, staff, parent or alumni wanting to attend the match, the Mountaineers have scheduled a fan bus for 50 spectators. For more details, please click here.