The Windsor Lancers women’s volleyball team picked up two wins to kick off 2023 this weekend with a pair of victories over the RMC Paladins in Kingston. The Lancers swept the Paladins (3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 27-25) on Friday and followed that up with another 3-0 (25-15, 25-7, and 25-22) victory on Saturday.
The win improves the lady Lancers record to 7-4 on the season and currently sit fifth in the OUA league standings.
FRIDAY
The Lancers were led by sophomore Emma Shepherd with 15 points on 13 kills, while senior Yaila Sealy had 10.5 points on 10 kills. Aliah Admans led the team defensively with 16 digs.
Both squads started out the year strong as the first set was a bit tighter than the Lancers would have liked. Tied 5-5, the blue and gold them went on a 5-0 run to open the game up. They led for the remainder of the set, claiming the set 25-17.
In the second, the Lancers dominated the set right from the start and once again claimed the set 25-17. The third was a bit more challenging for the visitors as the Paladins found a renewed sense of purpose and kept themselves in the game. The Lancers were down early but chipped away at the score to once again put themselves out in front. The hosts did not quit however, and it took extra points for the Lancers to win the set 27-25, and take the game 3-0.
SATURDAY
Leading the way for the blue and gold on the day was second year middle Jordyn Brearly who has 10 kills against the Paladins defence. While sophomore outside hitter Aryn Markett chipped in with 9 kills of her own to further spark the offensive charge. Rookie setter Danika Scharff dished out 22 assists in the victory to round out the weekend trip to Kinston flawlessly.
The Lancers saw strong defensive play from RMC’s Ashley Raymond who had 13 digs in the second straight loss to Windsor.
The Lancers held control all throughout the first set breaking open with a 4-0 lead off the start. They would continue building their lead when moving towards the midway point of the opening set. The blue and gold would manage to stave off the Paladins comeback attempts in the middle of the set to cruise to an eventual 25-15 first set win.
In the second set the Lancers would again make their mark in the SAM Gym managing to build up a lead as high as 19 points that proved to be too high of a mountain for RMC to climb. Windsor would win 25-7 and take a 2-0 set lead in the match.
The third set was by far the most competitive seeing the hometown Paladins go to work to try and extend the match to an additional set against the visiting Lancers. Points were traded early on in a see-saw affair which saw ties and reversals of leads towards the middle of the set. In the end though, the Lancers would emerge victorious breaking away from their opponents down the stretch after being knotted up at 21-21 and closing out the third 25-22 to take the match 3-0 in straight sets for a second consecutive day.
UP NEXT
The Lancers will now return home and prepare to make another long trip to Kingston next weekend where they will face the Queen’s Gaels at the ARC Gymnasium on Friday January 13th at 6:00pm. Fans can catch the action streaming live on oua.tv or follow our social media pages including Twitter for live updates of the game.