Women’s Volleyball Preview:
The Windsor Lancers women’s volleyball team kicked off the 2023-24 OUA regular season on the road in Toronto two weekends ago battling with the TMU Bold in a pair of matches at Toronto Metropolitan University’s home the Mattamy Athletic Centre (formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens) which is nestled in the historic building within heart of downtown Toronto.
The blue and gold gals dropped a 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 15-25, 12-25) match loss on November 4th and a 3-0 (22-25, 17-25, and 23-25) loss on November 5th to begin the young season at 0-2. The Lancers were off this past weekend as part of a bye weekend and did not compete.
Despite the losses to TMU earlier this month, head coach Lucas Hodgson believes that the team is on track for a good year ahead with even the potential to set foot in new territory later this season which is the prospect of winning a quarter-final playoff match up in February 2024 with the hope of advancing to the OUA Final Four in pursuit of the Quigley Cup in March 2024.
“Our team has a goal of being a top 4 team in the OUA at the end of the season.” Coach Hodgson stated with credence when asked what the expectations are for his squad this season.
“We have a deep team (this year), and we are going to need everyone to contribute to help us reach that goal. If we are able to get healthy, stay healthy, and play to our potential we will be a very tough team to play week in and week out.”
In recent history, the Lancer ladies have been unable to get past the first round over the years which is somewhat of a curse that the blue and gold are looking to finally address and break this season given that the roster is full of returning key veteran players like OUA all-star and award winning offensive outside hitters Yaila Sealy and Aliah Admans. Setting up the stars again for another season is veteran setter Nicole Woelk who is poised to take back the playmaking reins again this year while sharing the setting duties with Danika Scharff.
Also back in lineup is hometown hero middle blocker Megan Gahima, and consistent unsung hero libero Sam Loshushan leading the defense just to name a few notable returners.
The 2023-24 team also features exciting newcomers this season with the additions of Hope Simpson, Ava Hardy, and local area products Maja Susa and Lou Theriault who both hail from the Windsor-Essex County region and played their OVA club volleyball in Windsor with the South County Bandits last season.
Simpson is currently injured and out for the 2023-24 season it appears based on what Coach Hodgson shared as is key returning veteran and Windsor native Jordyn Brearley however she is expected to recover by January 2024.
“I think our balance is what is going to make us so tough to play against.” Coach Hodgson asserted with confidence who is entering his 13th year at the helm as the leader of the Lancers women’s volleyball program since coming over from coaching the Brock Badgers back in 2011.
“We look forward to getting Jordyn Brearley (broken foot) back in January as she was having a great start to the preseason and rookie Hope Simpson (torn ACL) back in September 2024 who was showing great promise.”
Despite the rest of the returning core that appears to be intact and promising new rookies added into the mix this season the team will have to find a way to fill the noticeable absence and void left behind by the departure of American import and stand out right side hitter Emma Shepherd who has since moved on from the Lancers in pursuit of studying and playing back Stateside in her native homeland this season at Charleston University in West Virginia.
The team will indeed definitely miss Shepherd’s strong spin serving presence at the service line this season which saw the Plain City, Ohio native tied for the team lead last season with Admans at 27 service aces accumulated in 2022-23. However, this season there will be lots of new opportunities available for the remaining Lancer ladies on the court to step up and embrace the challenge of playing without one their key former players who has moved on from last season.
In the opening weekend earlier in November, Sealy led the way offensively on the Friday match with 9 kills while on Saturday Admans led the way with 9 kills in that outing despite each game resulting in a loss for the blue and gold gals.
Despite the ongoing adversity that they are currently amid between battling ongoing injuries to a pair of key players and finding a way to move forward without a key graduated player like Shepherd, Coach Hodgson firmly believes that the goal is still quite realistic this season which would be a long overdue feat to achieve since he came over to join the Lancers for the 2011-12 season and will almost certainly ignite a new passion for the program’s future going forward beyond this season.
“Final Four is the goal and we will need to play with an urgency that the team is showing right now in practice and most of our pre-season exhibition games.” Coach Hodgson declared once more on a final note. “This group is ready to break out.”
Now after opening the new year on a hard-fought losing note two weekends ago, the team is now setting their sights ahead for what’s to come and looking to bounce back fresh off the bye week this upcoming weekend at the Toldo Lancer Centre, with the home opener matches on the docket where they will host the visiting McMaster Marauders on Friday November 17th at 6PM and again in a rematch on Saturday November 18th at 4PM.
Lancer volleyball fans can catch the action live at the TLC and purchase their tickets either here in advance at golancers.ca/tickets or at the TLC box office on game day. The games will also be broadcasted live on OUA.Tv and will be called by yours truly, Andrew Papadopoulos, all season long for Lancer volleyball home games at the TLC this year.
Men’s Volleyball Preview:
The Windsor Lancers men’s volleyball team have officially kicked off their 2023-24 on a winning note with a 2-0 record after doubly defeating the TMU Bold earlier this month on Friday November 4th in a five-set thriller victory 3-2 (25-17, 16-25, 21-25, 25-19, and 15-7) and four set showdown the next day on November 5th with a 3-1 win (25-16, 25-23, 23-25, and 25-22) at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The team had the week off last weekend from league competition with their early season bye week but are now setting their sights on an epic rematch of the 2023 OUA Forsyth Cup Championship against the McMaster Marauders slated for this Friday November 17th at 8PM and Saturday November 18th at 6PM at the Toldo Lancer Centre for the team’s home opener for the 2023-24 season. The team is currently ranked 9th in the recent U SPORTS men’s volleyball national rankings going into this upcoming weekend.
Fresh off the program’s best season to date last year where in 2022-2023 the team won its highest medal to date being an OUA silver medal and were provincial runners-up that clinched a berth back to the U SPORTS National Championships in Hamilton for the first time since 2018.
Lancers men’s volleyball head coach James Gravelle enters his tenth season at the helm since taking over as lead of the men’s volleyball program at the University of Windsor and Coach Gravelle is doing so with high praise from his volleyball community peers both across the province and nationwide this season as one of the top coaches in Canada at the university level as Coach Gravelle was recognized and awarded honours as the OUA Coach of Year in 2023 and U SPORTS Fox 40 Men’s Volleyball Coach of the Year for 2023 back in March.
To Coach Gravelle he firmly believes that this year is destined to be a new team and new adventure this season.
“New team, new season, new adventure.” Gravelle asserted with confidence. We are committed to looking forward (not back) while staying focused on the tasks at hand today.”
The blue and gold gentlemen came into the 2023-24 campaign with a lot of buzz both on and off the court which has attracted a lot of volleyball fans around the province to keep their eyes on the Lancers this season.
Beside Gravelle this season, the Lancer men’s volleyball program has excitingly welcomed back another former varsity player and familiar face to help coach the program in well-seasoned and accomplished assistant coach Jimmy El-Turk who has returned to the program for a second stint following a seven-season head coach tenure at St. Clair College leading the Saints women’s volleyball program in the OCAA. Coach El-Turk rejoined the Lancers bench after previously served as an assistant for two seasons between 2013-15 before going across town to St. Clair.
Coach El-Turk rejoins the Lancers after a successful term as the head coach of the St. Clair Saints women’s volleyball program. With the Saints, El-Turk posted an impressive 92-43 record over seven seasons from 2015-23, including a pair of OCAA bronze medals in 2017-18 and 2019-20. He is a two-time OCAA west division coach of the year (2018-19 & 2019-20) and the OCAA overall coach of the year in 2018-19.
The Lancers also bolstered their middle presence this season with the activation and addition of Darian Koskie who previously played at the University of Manitoba and has become eligible to suit up for the blue and gold this season after having been redshirted last fall due to his transfer.
In his first official two matches with the blue and gold, Koskie recorded 18 kills and 5 service aces (4 in one outing) leading the way for the Lancers from the service line in aces to date.
“Adding Darian Koskie to the lineup this season means a veteran presence in the middle who is a top attacker, strong server, and a very effective blocker.” Coach Gravelle expressed jubilantly with regards to the addition of Darian Koskie (DK) this season.
“DK has shown throughout the pre-season, and in our first league matches, that he has what it takes to be a consistent performer. The team will rely on Darian for his leadership and strong all-around play.”
The team has also got a new defensive leader in rookie libero Quintin Greenidge as Steven Abrams has since graduated and moved on from the program after being the linchpin libero for the team from 2019-2023.
“Our new libero Quintin Greenidge has helped solidify our passing and is already among the league leaders in digs, in this, his first season on the team.” Gravelle said of Greenidge.
With the subtraction of an all-star libero like Abrams this season, and graduation of notable key veteran players Anthony DeGirolamo and one-and-done transfer Zach Albert are noticeable departures this season off the 2022-23 silver medal winning squad.
DeGirolamo has since gone on to play professional volleyball in Denmark this season joining the likes of other recent Lancer volleyball alumni who have turned pro after their time with the blue and gold such as John Moate, Brad Gyemi, and Pierce Johnson, after being the mainstay go-to setter of the team for the last two seasons in particular.
This season the Lancers did not have to look too far for DeGirolamo’s successor in holding the setting torch as third year setter Markus Law-Heese is poised to take over the reins following in the footsteps of fellow Aurora Storm OVA club alumni and Lancer men’s volleyball alumni in DeGirolamo and former Lancer setter and current assistant coach Nolan Langley.
“Markus Law-Heese has taken the reins at setter and the offense has a new look.” Coach Gravelle confirmed with confidence who will look to have Law-Heese quarterbacking the offense this season mainly as the team’s designated playmaker.
“Markus also brings strong defense and leadership to the table which we will definitely look to on a regular basis this season.”
Another key piece of the puzzle who has returned to the fold for the blue and gold is third year Brazilian import outside hitter Gustavo Siqueira who is expected to be a vital pillar to the Lancer offence this season with his international flair and experience along with fellow international player and American import Chase Bridges who was nicknamed “The High-Flying Hawaiian” last year in his first season playing OUA and U SPORTS volleyball in Canada after coming over to Windsor all the way from Hawaii.
“Gustavo Siqueira has been called upon to shoulder a greater offensive load this season and so far, so good, being named the U SPORTS men’s volleyball player of the week during the first week of OUA competition.” Gravelle reflected while addressing the hot start of Siqueira after being named U SPORTS men’s volleyball player of the week after leading the Lancers with 36 kills in their doubleheader road wins over TMU earlier this month.
“Gus is also a strong leader whose energy often carries the team in training and competition.”
Locked and loaded but refined and refreshed appears to be the look of the Lancers men’s volleyball team going into this weekend’s highly touted match ups against the Marauders. However, despite the changes, there is one thing that the team has not changed and that their focus and mindset in continuing to be within the top tier upper echelon of the OUA this season.
“The team is committed to coming to work every day in training to help reach our outcome goals.” Coach Gravelle maintained when asked about what the team’s outlook is for this season.
“We are all focused on doing our next job in the pursuit of victory and are sacrificing individual wants for team needs.”
The team will now look forward to the expected competitive battle that awaits them going up against the defending OUA champion and 2023 U SPORTS national bronze medalist McMaster Marauders this weekend but this time in their gym at the TLC after having made multiple trips up to Hamilton last season. This time the Lancers MVB squad hope to draw out a large crowd to help support the team this weekend in their pair of home opener weekend match ups that promise to not disappoint local volleyball fans who are in search of thrilling volleyball action.
Lancer volleyball fans can catch the action live at the TLC and purchase their tickets either here in advance at golancers.ca/tickets or at the TLC box office on game day. The games will also be broadcasted live on OUA.Tv and will be called by yours truly, Andrew Papadopoulos, all season long for Lancer volleyball home games at the TLC this year.
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