BLUES HEAD TO WINDSOR FOR OUA SEMIFINAL

After beating the Nipissing Lakers in the quarter-finals, the Varsity Blues men’s volleyball team will travel to face off against the Windsor Lancers in the OUA semifinals this Saturday, March 4 at 7 p.m.

“After a nervous, gritty quarter final win, we are excited about the challenge of going to Windsor,” said Varsity Blues head coach John Barrett. “Windsor is a very technically sound team, and extremely well coached. Their new gym is fantastic for volleyball, and I am sure it will be a loud raucous crowd. Our guys really liked playing there during the regular season. I anticipate a fierce lengthy battle between the two teams, who highly respect each other. We’ll let the ball tell the story!” 
 
THE STAKES: Toronto will be looking to make their third straight Forsyth Cup Final, and book a spot at the U SPORTS championships. The top three teams in the OUA will advance to the 2023 U SPORTS championships, March 17-19, at McMaster University.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Blues and Lancers faced off twice during the regular season, splitting the series 1-1.  On Jan. 20, the Blues took the first game of the back-to-back, 3-2 (25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 22-25, 15-12). Windsor won the second game the following day, 3-2 (25-16, 21-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-8).
 
This will be the second time the two teams will face off in the playoffs of late. The Blues and Lancers faced off in the bronze medal match in 2018-19 with Windsor taking that game 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-19).
 
The Blues finished the regular season with a 13-7 record, in third place in the OUA standings.  Their season included an eight-game win streak spanning from Nov. 10, 2022 to Jan. 15, 2023.
 
For a third season in a row, fourth-year left side hitter Evan Falardeau ranked top five in the OUA in kills per set. After 20 games, Falardeau finished the season second in the province in kills per set with 4.26. The Stratford, Ont. native also ranked second in the OUA in points per set with 4.8.
 
Fellow veteran outside Mitchell Neuert provided the secondary offence, averaging 2.77 kills and 3.3 points per set.
 
Fifth-year libero Daniel Tudor led the Blues defensively and ranked first in the OUA with 2.37 digs per set. Second-year standout Davis Young ranked eighth among OUA setters with 8.20 assists per set, while rookie setter Michael Hickey ranked 10th, averaging 7.91 assists per set over 13 matches.
 
The Lancers punched their ticket to the final four with a dominant 3-0 win over the Western Mustangs (25-19, 25-20, 25-20).
 
The Blues will have to look out for Lancers outside hitter Zach Albert, who ranked eighth in kills per set (3.21) and 10th in points per set (3.9). Anthony DeGirolamo set the Lancers up during the regular season and found himself in third in the OUA in assists per set (9.12).
 
Lancers middle Luca Nastase had a team-high 1.78 digs per set, placing him sixth overall in the OUA.