By Mia Ines
The Lancer men’s volleyball team finished the 2021-22 OUA regular season in fourth place in the OUA west division standings and will host their first home playoff game since 2012.
With a 4-6 overall record, the blue and gold look to clean up their play facing off against the visiting Waterloo Warriors.
“The student-athletes train hard year-round for this opportunity and so our team is embracing our playoff journey,” head coach James Gravelle said.
Like all varsity teams, this season has been nothing but a rollercoaster from temporarily closed facilities to train in due to COVID-19 restrictions to having concerns that yet another OUA season would be cancelled. Yet with such a strong team, both the athletes and Lancer coaching staff were prepared to tackle any obstacles and put in the work to perform at the same high level.
Fourth-year, setter and captain Anthony DeGirolamo has more than enough confidence in his teammates and in the program to settle the score in their own gym. “We are excited,” says Anthony. “It has been a very strange season with a lot of interruptions, so it has been tough to hit a stride, but we have all been working hard to make improvements over the last few weeks and are excited to keep getting better when we play on Wednesday.”
The blue and gold are set to play on home court at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse to use the advantage of a home crowd full of Lancer fans to battle the Warriors in their favour.
“Home court can be beneficial if we manage our emotions,” discusses Gravelle. “Being on our own court is familiar so there will be a degree of comfort from that.”
The Warriors sit just below the Lancers in the standings with a 3-9 overall record but should look to pose a good game in the first round of OUA men’s volleyball playoffs.
“Waterloo is a very good attacking team,” Gravelle states. “They are challenging for us because they have many weapons that can hurt us. They also have a veteran setter who makes them go so we will need to serve well to affect their offense.”
“We are focused on the process and are committed to each doing our job to help the team win,” James emphasizes. “Our goal is to play our best and stay in the moment, one point at a time.”
When asked what key value will lead the team to potential success, Anthony states: process. “As long as we all take care of our next little job, one thing at a time leading up to and during the game, the rest will take care of itself.” By understanding the process and each small step that took to get to the playoffs will bring confidence in their ability to carry out offensive and defensive plans and perform their best.
The blue and gold squad will also look to dedicate their match to their graduating seniors, Dami Alalade and Sean Spencer. As both players have each given so much to our program, this will be the last time that they compete on home court and their contribution should be honoured.
The playoffs get underway when the Lancers host the Warriors on Wednesday, March 9th at 7:00 p.m. at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse.