Men’s Volleyball Playoff Preview

By Andrew Papadopoulos 

The Windsor Lancers men’s volleyball team is gearing up to face the Western Mustangs in the opening round of the 2023 OUA men’s volleyball playoffs. 
 
The seventh-ranked nationally Lancer men’s volleyball team is now in pursuit of wanting to advance to the OUA Final Four again for the first time since the 2018-19 season and earn another shot at competing for the prestigious Forsyth Cup.  In addition to that prospect, the Lancer gentlemen are also eyeing an opportunity down the line to possibly pave their way towards another potential USPORTS Nationals appearance berth which has not been achieved since the 2017-18 season. 
 
Without getting too far ahead of themselves and their expectations, putting those peripheral goals for this post-season aside, the Lancers playoff journey will have its sights firmly placed on Western beginning with a tough test anticipated to be put forth by the Mustangs who come into the fixture off a huge 3-2 win over the Nipissing Lakers in North Bay to close out their season.
 
The blue and gold men’s volleyball team who finished near the top of the pack with a 15-5 record this season which helped to secure the second spot of the overall 2022-23 OUA regular season standings. The second seeded Lancers will now take on the seventh ranked Mustangs squad, who went 10-10 this season, in the first-round of the quarter-final bracket.
 
Windsor Lancers MVB Head Coach James Gravelle shared his insights as to how his team is feeling heading into their post-season run after quite a successful regular season.
 
“Our team’s performance during the regular season was a direct result of the hard work the boys have put in and the ability to pull out some close matches during a very difficult second semester schedule.” Gravelle stated who is now in his tenth year at the helm. 
 
“The quality of our opponents and the fact that we played 13 matches in 43 days means that we are feeling battle-tested for our match this Saturday.”
 
Fifth year veteran Anthony DeGirolamo, who is the lone remaining player from the 2017-18 nationals’ appearance roster, which qualified during his rookie season, also offered some context as to how the boys are approaching the highly coveted upcoming quarter-final playoff contest against Western.
 
“For playoffs we want to keep the same focus we have had all year.” DeGirolamo asserted.  “We need to just trust our training, stick together and look forward to the battle against Western.” 
 
Surprisingly, Windsor did not have any formal meetings with Western on the regular season schedule this year despite London being the closest geographical city to Windsor on the OUA map with an approximate two-hour trek between the Forest City and the Rose City.
 
However, both teams did square off against each other in an exhibition game this season back in the fall on October 29th where the Lancers defeated the Mustangs 3-2. 
 
With both sides seeming closely matched up at the time, by going the distance to five sets played, Gravelle shed some light onto how they are looking to approach Western this time around when it will count most in a do-or-die match up. 
 
“We know that we are going to face a very tough and determined team in Western and we welcome the challenge.” Gravelle affirmed of the upcoming match up against their 401 West rivals. 
 
“Western is a team that makes you earn every point and carries a lot of momentum into this match, with them having won a very big road match on Sunday to qualify.  We will need to play our best volleyball and take advantage of any opportunities presented.”
 
Windsor MVB earned the right to host their first post-season opponent inside the newest facility in the OUA being the Toldo Lancer Centre in Windsor.  Coach Gravelle believes that this will be a positive factor for them after spending most of the back half of the season on the road so far in 2023. 
 
“Having home court means that our boys took care of business during the regular season.” Gravelle remarked with praise for his team’s valiant efforts this season. 
 
“We look forward to playing in front of our home fans who have offered great support all season.  Also, an added bonus is that we will not have to make yet another long trip down the 401 after already traveling to Kingston twice, North Bay, and Toronto in the New Year.”
 
DeGirolamo agreed with his coach’s reflection and added to the importance of what it will mean to having at least one more Lancer volleyball home game at the TLC for the graduating senior who will not be eligible to return as a member of next year’s team once he completes his fifth year of eligibility after this post-season run.
 
“It’s definitely going to be a special feeling hosting at the TLC.” DeGirolamo said adding to the same sentiment of his coach’s previous comments.  “If last year’s playoff match (against Waterloo at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse) was any indication of how our fans and Lancer Family show up when it’s a huge game then it’s going to be a packed house again and a great environment to play in.”
 
With a marvelous facility to host, a focused mindset approach to boast and a marquee quarter-final match up set to toast by being played on Saturday night during prime-time hours, the Lancer MVB squad expects to embrace the amazing atmosphere slated and give it their all as they head into their 2023 playoff quest starting first with the Mustangs.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
What: OUA Men’s Volleyball Quarter-Final Match
Who: Windsor Lancers men’s volleyball vs Western Mustangs
When: Saturday February 25, 2023, at 7:30pm
Where: Toldo Lancer Centre in Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Tickets: https://golancers.universitytickets.com/ or at the TLC box office.
Livestream & Updates:  OUA.tv will have the livestream coverage from the TLC gym and fans can follow along on our social media pages including Twitter for in-game updates