Men’s Volleyball advances to OUA Quarter-Finals with sweep over Warriors

The Lancer men’s volleyball team opened up their first game in the OUA playoffs against the Waterloo Warriors on home court at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse. This was the first playoff game the Lancers have hosted since 2012 and the excitement was in the air in anticipation for the match.

In front of a full crowd, the blue and gold defeated the visiting Waterloo Warriors 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-20). They will now advance to the next round against the McMaster Marauders on Saturday in Hamilton.

STATS
Luca Nastase led the blue and gold with 16 kills and 18.5 points, while Anthony DeGirolamo had 29 assists in the win.

For the visiting Warriors, Liam MacArthur had 13 kills in the loss.

GAME FLOW
In the first set, the Lancers were fired up to play the first round of the OUA West division playoffs at home. This would be the fourth time the blue and gold have played against the Warriors this season and looked to hit heavy having familiar experience with their play. Early in the set, Windsor got off to an aggressive start getting the first point of the game. Sean Spencer showed off some strong serves that would force the ball to hit the ceiling and the Warriors were reminded to stay on their toes. After tying 14-14, Waterloo would force Windsor into their first technical timeout in hopes to pick up the offensive pace again. The Lancers would hold the lead most of the set but a back and forth affair came out in the second half. Despite the battles to hold the lead, the blue and gold would take the first set 25-22 in a competitive finish.

The second set would continue the Lancers offensive streak against the Warriors as Waterloo struggled with getting consistent serves. The blue and gold’s outside hitter Gustavo Siqueira had a major block to help put the team up and widen their lead. As Windsor would hit heavy, at 20-17, they forced the Warriors into a technical timeout to try to find opportunities to respond back. Graduating seniors, Sean Spencer and Dami Alalade would put it all on the court for their last home game at the Fairall Fieldhouse. The Lancers would run away with the set and take it 25-19.

Windsor came into the third set on fire with a boisterous crowd behind them. With Luca Nastase on the service line, the Warriors expected a strong serve but Nastase played a nice drop on a spin serve that Waterloo could not play to gain a point. Waterloo would need to put in the work to mitigate any more service errors if they wanted to take the set. The Lancers were able to come out on top with a 25-20 set win the match.

UP NEXT
The Lancers will head up to Hamilton to take on the McMaster Marauders in the OUA quarter-finals on Saturday, March 12th at 8:00pm at Burridge Gym. Tickets can be purchased here, and the game can also be seen live at oua.tv.