Lakers volleyball teams battle Knights

The Nipissing Lakers volleyball squads played some important games last weekend against the Niagara Knights.The women’s team kept their winning streak alive, while the men’s team narrowly missed out on the win.Women’s Results: Lakers sweep Knights for fifth straight winThe Nipissing Lakers women’s volleyball team stretched their winning streak to five games with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-18) sweep of the visiting Niagara Knights last weekend.
The win improves the Lakers record to 12-2 on the season, good for second place in the West division while Niagara drops to 6-8.
Fifth-year Left Side Rebecca Ramsay, who was named the Boston Pizza Player of Game, led the Lakers offence with 13 points while providing solid passing and defence throughout the match. First-year player Brittany MacComish scored nine points while Brittany Ardron added eight points.
“Rebecca did a very good job for us today,” said head coach Marc LaRochelle. “Her passing was very efficient and she was able to get us some big kills when we needed them. Overall, our work ethic and focus at practices has been very good and I think the team realizes that in order to reach our goals we must put in the time and effort required to become better every time we touch the ball.”
LaRochelle was also able to provide valuable court time for everyone during the match.
The Lakers will be on the road this weekend as they travel south to play Windsor Saturday and Humber College on Sunday.Men’s Results: Knights Charge to beat Lakers
The Nipissing Lakers men’s volleyball team held a 2-1 lead; however, the visiting Niagara Knights refused to go away and rallied to win the next two sets to score the 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-21, 15-12) victory.
The battle for second place went the Knights way as they improve to 11-3 while the Lakers drop to 10-4 in a tie for third with the Humber Hawks.
“Overall, we played a decent game, situational errors lost us this match,” said head coach Eric Yung. “We need to play with more passion and desire to be successful. We have a group of good volleyball players, but I am still waiting for them to be great.”
Frankie Edgecombe scored a game high 22 points and was named the Boston Pizza player of the game, while teammates Scott Coulthard and Andre Leblanc added 13 and 12 points respectively.
Offensively, both teams scored an even 67 points however the Knights had six more digs in this close contest and that proved to be the difference.
The match had its dramatic moments as several non-calls were boisterously objected to by the crowd on hand.
"I lost my cool tonight due to questionable officiating," acknowledged Yung. “I demand a huge amount of commitment from my players on the court and in the classroom and the players work too hard to have officials affect the momentum of the game. My job is to defend them and I got penalized for it.”
The Lakers will have one week to re-focus as crucial pair of matches will be played this weekend on the road. Saturday, the Lakers will face the St. Clair Saints and then Sunday will be a re-match of last year’s OCAA championship final as the Lakers face the Humber Hawks.