League leading Lancers tame Trent

The No. 5 nationally ranked Lancer men’s volleyball team travelled up to Peterborough this past weekend to take on the Trent Excalibur on Friday and Saturday at the Trent Athletic Centre in the Electric City. 
 
On Friday the blue and gold took a 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, and 25-19) over Trent before following up on Saturday with a 3-1 victory (25-14, 25-18, 20-25, and 25-9) over the Excalibur. 
 
WEEKEND STATS
Chase Bridges had 10 kills in Friday’s outing while Kaden Reid contributed with another 9 to help lead the Lancers offensively over Trent. 
 
Markus Law-Heese racked up 23 assists and recorded 10 digs, 3 blocks, and 4 service aces helping to play a significant role in his team’s overall production on the floor in the first win. 
 
Law-Heese dished out another 32 assists and 9 digs on Saturday’s follow up victory over the Excalibur while Reid led the charge offensively with a 12-kill performance.
 
Noah Koskie also produced 9 kills and 2 service aces in Saturday’s win over Trent.
 
FRIDAY GAME FLOW
The opening set was competitive between both sides as the Excalibur hung with the Lancers closely contesting them throughout the first set.  Windsor was able to keep composure however down the stretch and emerge with a 25-22 first set win to take a 1-0 lead up on the hosts.
 
In the second set, the Lancers took more control of the set toward the midway mark breaking open a six-point spread and continuing to grow it to a lead as high as eight before the Excalibur sharpened their swords and swung back into the set shrinking the gap on the scoreboard down to an eventual 25-23 two-point loss to trail 2-0 in the match.
 
The Lancers then found a way to maintain control throughout the third set obtaining momentum and keeping it with them to propel to an eventual 25-19 third set win and stave off the Excalibur on the first night head-to-head with the green and white.
 
SATURDAY GAME FLOW
Windsor was in full control less than 24 hours later during the opening set where they were able to comfortably trample over the Excalibur with a 25-14 first set win.
 
With a 1-0 lead in the match, Trent looked to elevate their play but found that Windsor’s offensive production was continuing to click despite their valiant efforts which ultimately resulted in a 25-18 second set in favour of the visitors to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Excalibur looking to no longer be dull, sharpened up once more on their play and found a way to lock in to try and match the Lancers output which resulted in them sticking around with the blue and gold during the third.  Looking to avoid a second straight sweep at the hands of Windsor, Trent managed to dial in and earn a 25-20 third set win to extend the match to another set and make it a 2-1 Windsor advantage.
 
That advantage was not forgotten about going into the fourth set as Windsor had enough volleyball on the road against their competitors with a statement 25-9 being handed to Trent to round out a 3-1 win over the Excalibur and fend off having to play a fifth set. 
 
With the pair of recent wins, the Lancers now improve to 9-1 on the season and currently sit atop the OUA men’s volleyball league standings going into their holiday break.
 
UP NEXT
Saturday’s contest at Trent was the final game of the 2024 calendar year for the Lancers men’s volleyball team who will now focus on their upcoming fall semester exams and head into the holiday midseason break and will return to action again in 2025 when they will visit the McMaster Marauders in Hamilton on Friday January 10th and Saturday January 11th, 2025. 
 
The Windsor Lancers would like to wish the men’s volleyball team all the best with their upcoming end of semester studies including exams and the Lancers men’s volleyball team would also like to thank everyone for their continued support during the first half of the season and throughout 2024 and would like to wish everyone a happy holiday season and hope to see everyone back out at the TLC in the new year!