Volleyball splits final weekend of the regular season

The No. 6 Windsor Lancer men’s volleyball team travelled up to Toronto this weekend to take on the York Lions in a doubleheader at the Tait McKenzie Centre in North York. 
 
On Friday the second-seeded Lancers managed to pull off a thrilling five-set 3-2 victory over the third-seeded Lions in dramatic fashion with respective set scores of 25-20, 25-15, 19-25, 23-25, and 18-16. 
 
On Saturday the Lancers dropped a 3-1 loss (25-22, 15-25, 19-25, 8-25) to the Lions and sported a different look with having more reserves out on the floor than the usual regularly anticipated lineup in what was overall meant to be a flexible game for both sides prior to competing in the upcoming Forsyth Cup OUA playoffs.
 
STATS
Friday saw Luca Nastase lead the charge offensively for Windsor boasting 13 kills and 2 service aces in the five-set win. 
 
While Gustavo Siqueira chipped in mightily with 11 kills, a service ace and 3 assists of his own.   Zach Albert had 10 kills and 2 service aces in helping the blue and gold get over the hump of the hungry Lions. 
 
Anthony DeGirolamo had 35 assists and 4 kills to his credit in the victory.
 
Saturday’s shining star in the loss was Noah Koskie who had a game-high of 15 kills, 6 digs and a service ace.  Markus Law-Heese picked up 27 assists, 4 digs, and 3 service aces in the loss.
 
GAME FLOW:
Friday
The blue and gold had a good start holding control throughout the early stages of the first set.  Their lead continued to grow approaching the midway mark of the set when service and attack errors started to occur with York’s offensive charge. 
 
Steady play and consistency helped propel them ahead late to close out the first set by five points 25-20 to go up 1-0 in the match.
 
The second set saw the Lancers emphatically ramp up their play away from the Lions who were within striking distance early on in the second set.  York even held a slender one-point lead on a couple of occasions but the blue and gold became ignited with their offense to unleash a series of forceful attacks from in front of the attack line to behind the service line where they were able to top the Lions by 10 at the end of the set 25-15 to go up 2-0 in the match wanting to pull off a sweep.
 
The brooms had to be put away though however as the Lions were able to successfully up their play and bounce back with spectacular plays of their own that allowed them to pull away from the Lancers late in the third.  York would take the third set 25-19 to trail 2-1 in the match.
 
In the fourth set, the Lions continued to pounce on the Lancers making them have to earn the victory while fighting for their chance to play a fifth and final deciding set.  They were able to accomplish this down the stretch narrowly edging the Lancers out 25-23 avoiding a two-point tug-a-war past the finish line tying the game up at 2-2.
 
This contest needed a fifth set where it saw no lack of excitement throughout with neither team pulling punches and maintaining strong plays on both sides of the court.  This battle was pushed to the brink needing extra points where the number 6 nationally USPORTS ranked Windsor Lancers were able to capture the victory over York 18-16 to improve their season record to 16-4 on the year.
 
SATURDAY
The rematch proved to be a game that the Lancers approached with a little less pressure having won the night before over the Lions in their gym. 
 
The first set saw Windsor take control towards the midway point of the opening set before being consistently challenged by York’s resiliency to stay within reach later in the early going of the game. 
 
Ultimately, the blue and gold were able to close out the first set on top 25-22 with Koskie earning a couple of key points down the stretch to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Second set action started with each team trading points to begin the first part but later transitioned into the York show with the Lions gaining momentum and riding the wave to firmly grip control towards the midpoint.  The red and white were able to snatch the second set away from the Lancers and not look back by a score of 25-15 to equalize the match at 1-1.
 
The third set began as another even tilt until again at the halfway mark, the Lions fiercely grabbed hold of the lead and did not let go and coasted to an eventual 25-19 win over the visiting Lancers to go up 2-1. 
 
With the determined Lancers showing promise late in the third set, they hoped that they could piggyback off that late set energy heading into the fourth to force a potential fifth. 
 
However, that was not the case at all as an unfortunate rough start snowballed and made it tough for the Lancers to keep their spark alive with the Lions jumping out to a 10-2 lead making it difficult for Windsor to score points.  York would cruise past the finish line on their senior’s day game with a whopping 25-8 fourth set victory winning the match 3-1 over the Lancers to split the weekend series with the blue and gold.
 
With the revenge win over Windsor, York improved their record on the year to 14-7 while Windsor MVB finishes the regular season with an overall record of 15-6 still seeded second in the OUA standings. 
 
UP NEXT
The Lancer men’s volleyball team will now get set to host their first-round playoff opponent on Saturday February 25, 2023, at the Toldo Lancer Centre. Stay tuned for more information on game time and tickets, which will be available in the coming days.