Box Score Looking to make it two wins in a row and wrap up the home portion of the schedule on a high note, the Nipissing Lakers women’s volleyball team hit the court Saturday afternoon.
The Lakers hosted the Trent Excalibur and in a big upset, the Excalibur topped the Lakers 3-2.
In the opening set, Trent got the jump on the Lakers and didn’t trail the whole time.
They grabbed an early 6-1 lead, extended that to 16-10 at the technical timeout and were able to squash any Lakers offence.
Trent took a 20-13 advantage into the late stages of the set and eventually came away with a 25-18 win to open up the match.
In the second set, it was Trent getting the early advantage once again.
They grabbed a 7-2 lead and then pushed it to 11-5 early in the set.
At the technical timeout, Trent continued to dominate and held a lopsided 16-5 lead, already up one set.
The game did a 180, however, as the Lakers stormed back and closed the gap to four, down just 19-15 before getting things back to even at 22-22.
From there, Nipissing grabbed control and won 25-23 to even up the match, 1-1.
With the match tied, the third set was back and fourth early, with the Lakers eventually grabbing the advantage.
Early on, Nipissing hit double digits first, leading 10-7.
At the technical timeout, the Lakers maintained their three point cushion, leading 16-13.
Nipissing was able to hold on to their three point lead, going ahead 20-17 late in the set.
Another push to the end has the Lakers up 23-20.
The Lakers managed to hold on and claim the set, winning 25-20, to go up 2-1.
With a chance to clinch the match in the fourth set, the Lakers jumped out to an early lead and built a five point cushion, up 16-11 at the technical timeout.
They held on to a 19-18 lead late in the set and continued to hold the advantage, until the final few points as Trent stormed back to go ahead 23-22.
The Excalibur put the set away to tie the match 2-2, sending things to a fifth and deciding game.
In the fifth set, Trent came out strong, going up 4-2 and leading 8-5 at the midway point of the deciding game.
Trent is the first to hit the 10-point mark and lead by three.
Nipissing fought back late, cutting their deficit to just one, 12-11, late in the match.
Trent took over down the stretch and came away with a 15-12 win to upset the Lakers.
Shayla Kessler had a big match, posting 23 kills and 26 points, Kristine Ledger added 13 points and Sarah Puthuva had 10 kills for the Lakers.
The Lakers hit the road next weekend to finish the regular season, taking on the nationally ranked Toronto Varsity Blues in Toronto.
The matches are set for Friday night and Saturday afternoon.