Hitting the court for the final weekend of the OUA season, the Nipissing Lakers women’s volleyball team was looking to finish strong.
The Lakers hosted the Western Mustangs Saturday in the first of two matches to wrap up the year.
A strong effort against one of the OUA’s top teams wasn’t enough, as the Mustangs topped the Lakers 3-0 in the first of their two meetings on the weekend.
Nipissing picked up where they left off last weekend, as they came out strong in the early going.
They led 7-3 through the opening 10 points and took at 16-11 lead into the midway point of the first game.
The Lakers continued to lead late in the game, up 22-19, but the Mustangs stormed back late, outscoring Nipissing 7-2 to steal the opening game 26-24.
Nipissing started slow in the second set, trailing 8-3 early as Western carried the momentum from the first set into the second.
The Lakers fought back after trailing early, getting back into the set, but still found themselves down 17-10 at the midway mark of the game.
The Lakers went on an 8-3 run to close the gap, trailing 20-18 late in the second set.
Trailing by seven at one point midway through the set, the Lakers stormed back to even things up at 22-22, but the Mustangs were once again able to hang on and sneak out a win in the second game.
With the Mustangs up 2-0, Western held a slight 11-8 lead early in the third game.
Western continued to be in control of the set, up 22-15 late.
A push by the Lakers near the end wasn’t enough, as they dropped the third set 25-18 and the match in three sets.
The Lakers and Mustangs are back on the court Sunday at noon to end the season.