Men’s Volleyball splits with Mustangs

The Windsor Lancer men’s volleyball team welcomed the Western Mustangs to the Toldo Lancer Centre this past weekend on Friday and Saturday night.
 
On Friday, the blue and gold dropped a 3-1 (18-25, 24-26, 25-22, and 19-25) decision to the visiting Mustangs.  Meanwhile on Saturday, the Lancers managed to bounce back with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, and 25-22) sweeping victory over the purple and white.
 
FRIDAY STATS
Luca Nastase and Gustavo Siquiera shared offensive team high success in the loss to the Mustangs each posting 16 kills of their own on Friday night.
 
Nastase also picked up a pair of service aces and 3 blocks for a strong all-around performance despite the loss. 
 
Defensively, Lancer libero Quintin Greenidge had an impressive 11 dig performance while Darian Koskie had 4 blocks in the effort that came up short against the Mustangs. 
 
Markus Law-Heese dished out 46 assists in the loss to the Mustangs. 
 
Western was led offensively by Blake Fenwick who had 18 kills and Cade Smith who put away 17 kills in the win in Windsor. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY
With identical records of 9-5 coming into the contest, it was highly anticipated that the opening set would be competitive between the 401 rivals. 
 
It proved to be the case with back-and-forth action throughout the set with both teams creating rallies and trading points throughout the set.
 
Western got the better end of the extended rallies down the stretch and were able to go up 1-0 on the Lancers with a 25-18 first set win in Windsor.
 
The visitors from London struggled to respond to the Lancers opening sequence of the second set who opened up a 4-0 lead on the Mustangs.  Western would not lay down and take it however as they ramped up their intensity towards the midway mark of the set and found themselves in a tug-a-war on the scoreboard which saw both teams exchange leads and points throughout the entire duration of the set which did need extra points to solve. 
 
Ultimately, Western was able to get the better end of a couple late in the set plays to take the second set 26-24 and go up 2-0 on the hosts.
 
The Lancers opened the third set scoring with a 3-0 lead before finding themselves tied at 3-3 before more competitive volleyball transpired between both teams with yet again more points traded. 
The blue and gold would find a way to restore their confidence and momentum late in the set to break away from the tied-up set at 22-22 and close out the third set on top with a 25-22 win over the Mustangs to push the match to an extra set.
 
The fourth set was another battle that ensued with equal opportunities swapped on both sides.  The Lancers were met by the Mustangs at 15-15 and unfortunately were unable to retrieve a lead throughout the remainder of the fourth set which allowed Western to wrap up the thrilling contest in four sets with a 25-19 fourth set victory and 3-1 win over the Lancers in Windsor.
 
SATURDAY STATS
Darian Koskie had 15 kills in the win while his brother Noah Koskie had 11 kills of his own to help lead the Lancers over the Mustangs. 
 
Gustavo Siqueira had an impressive 10 kill and 8 dig performance to help lead his team to a bounce back win over Western. 
 
Julian Jouan also provided strong play up the middle with 4 blocks and 4 kills that energized the pro-Lancer crowd on hand at the TLC. 
 
Lancer setter Markus Law-Heese had 38 assists in the straight sets victory over Western.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED ON SATURDAY
The first set was another back-and-forth affair between both squads which was expected following the night before’s strong evenly matched competitive play throughout.
 
The Lancers did however find their groove late in the set to come out on top and take down the Mustangs 25-19 to go up 1-0 in the contest.
 
The second set saw Windsor again engaged in another close battle with the Mustangs.  Even scores echoed the theme of the weekend which was evenly-matched competitive play. 
 
The Lancers did manage to go on a run during midway part of the set to find themselves up comfortably by a pile of points at 20-14.  Windsor kept their composure and closed out the second set ahead 25-19 for a duplicate result from the opening set and go up 2-0.
 
On the verge of a potential sweep, Windsor picked up where they left off continuing to challenge Western with their steady offensive and defensive play.  More close scores popped up regularly throughout the set before both teams met at 21-21 down the stretch. 
 
With that, the Lancers were able to generate enough game-changing momentum to roar back from the Mustangs 20-16 lead to overturn it and make into a 25-22 fourth set win and 3-0 match victory to improve to 10-6 on the season like the counterpart Mustangs who also sit at 10-6 now on the campaign. 
 
UP NEXT
The Lancers will now shift their focus to next weekend’s homestand where they will welcome the York Lions to the Toldo Lancer Centre for the first time for a pair of matchmes beginning on Friday February 9th at 8:00pm and followed up on Saturday February 10th at 8:00p.
 
Tickets are available for purchase in advance here at goLancers.ca/tickets or can be bought upon entry on gameday at the TLC box office.  The action will also be livestreamed on OUA.TV on Friday and Saturday evening for volleyball fans to tune into remotely.
 
Also be sure to follow the official Windsor Lancers X account for live scores and updates throughout the Lancers upcoming matches.