The Windsor Lancers men’s volleyball team picked up another hard-fought victory on Friday night.
This time the blue and gold had to brave the brisk elements outside in traveling up to North Bay this weekend to take on the Nipissing Lakers and also inside of the Robert J. Surtees Student Athletics Centre where they were met by a chilly crowd inside the gym who did not greet the visiting team with the warmest welcome to the ‘Gateway to the North’.
The Lancer gentlemen overcame the adversity in part one of the long-road trip up north defeating the Lakers 3-2 (25-22, 25-20, 29-31, 26-24, 15-9) earning themselves a huge victory in dramatic fashion that they were able to capture by heating up their play throughout the intense match including within the pair of two-point set losses in the five sets.
STATS Zach Albert led the way for the Lancers in his return from injury boasting 21 kills, 1 service ace, 3 block points, and an assist in the five-set thriller.
Anthony Ivanovski also had a solid performance scoring with 14 kills and 1 service ace and picking up 3 assists by the sophomore middle.
Veteran setter Anthony DeGirolamo dished out 53 assists in getting his guys going including Albert and Ivanovski along with Luca Natase who also had 11 kills.
Big blocking at the net came repeatedly off the hands of Chase Bridges-Hunter who picked up 6 blocking points in stopping the Nipissing attackers within the extended contest.
But in addition to blocking, clutch defense came from the stellar play of libero Steven Abrams who had a whopping 22 digs in the win.
Nipissing was led by Jackson Young who had a game-high of 33 kills despite the five-set loss at home to the Lancers.
GAME FLOW
In the opening set, both squads tenaciously traded points going back-and-forth until Windsor broke open the gap after being up by a three-point margin steadily heading into the midway mark of the set. The Lancers then jacked up the lead to 17-10 but a determined effort by the Lakers shrunk the gap into the few-points away territory still within hopeful distance. Though the Lakers were able to be within one-point of knotting up the score late in the first set, things were not meant to be as Windsor took the first 25-22 to go up 1-0 in the match.
The second set saw the Lancers run up the score early frisking out to an 8-1 lead. The blue and gold then kept their foot on the gas and remained relentless on the hosts. Nipissing would then go on to shrink the Lancer lead again down to four points staying within striking distance. Windsor however would not be fazed as they propelled to a 25-20 second set victory and then go up 2-0.
Third set action started out again like the first with both sides exchanging points and keeping things close. Both teams met at 15-15 in a fight for ten points to try and close out the set. That would not be the case though however as both teams battled incredibly hard that saw them partake in a see-saw shuffle with both teams having opportunities to close out the set. The Lancers were unable to sweep the hosts on this night as the Lakers were able to crack into the thirties and take the third 31-29 and make it interesting at 2-1 in the matinee.
The fourth set saw Nipissing holding onto the momentum although both sides swapped points early again. Eventually both teams met one another at 20-20 in another tug-a-war to the end. The Lancers had a chance to end it at 24-23 but could not as the Lakers resiliently flipped the script at closed out the fourth 26-24 to force a fifth and final deciding set.
In the fifth, the Lancers were in full control and never forfeited the lead as they were able to gain their mojo back and cruise to a 15-9 win and clinch the five-set victory to improve to a 12-4 record on the campaign. With the win, the Lancers remain occupying the second place slot in the OUA standings to date.
UP NEXT
The blue and gold are staying overnight in North Bay to prepare for a slated rematch tomorrow against the Nipissing Lakers at 2PM. The game will be live streamed on OUATv for fans to tune into or you can follow along our Twitter page for more updates from the road action of this Saturday’s matinee.