WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL: ANOTHER STRONG LAKERS EFFORT NOT ENOUGH AGAINST WESTERN

Box Score As they recognize their senior athletes and close out the regular season, the Nipissing Lakers women’s volleyball was looking to end the year in style.

The Lakers hosted the Western Mustangs for the second straight day as the two teams close out the 2022-23 OUA campaign.

The Lakers dropped a very competitive match to one of the OUA’s top teams, the second-place Mustangs, as Nipissing falls 3-0 in their season finale.

Nipissing got off to a strong start and performed well early on.

With the scored tied 8-8, the Lakers went on an impressive 11-6 run to go up 19-14 late in the set.

Western stormed back and tied the score 23-23 before closing things out with a 3-1 run to take the opening set 26-24.

In the second set, the teams traded points early, with Western grabbing a 16-11 lead midway through.

They closed things out, staying ahead of Nipissing and coming away with a 25-19 win to go up 2-0 in the match.

The Mustangs looked to put the match away in the third set and jumped out to a 7-3 lead early on.

The Lakers kept the set close, but were unable to close the gap, as they trailed 16-10 midway through the third set, hoping to keep the match alive and extend the afternoon.

Western continued to stay ahead of the Lakers as the set progressed, leading 21-15 as the teams approach the final few points.

Nipissing finished the match on an 8-4 run, unfortunately, Western’s lead allowed them to close things out, winning 25-23 and claiming the match in straight sets.

Paige Owen led the Lakers with seven kills, while Oceane Raymond had six and Madison Murphy added six as well.