Lakers varsity sports recap-Jan20

Your Nipissing Lakers teams were on the ice and on the hardwood this past weekend.  Here’s the recap:
Women's Volleyball
After one of their better matches of the season Friday night, the Nipissing Lakers women’s volleyball were unable to duplicate the same effort Saturday afternoon.

The Lakers were on the wrong end of a 3-0 sweep to the top-ranked and undefeated Toronto Varsity Blues, who entered the match having lost just two sets all season.

The Lakers hung tough for the first set, but couldn’t match the power of the Varsity Blues who took control of the match early on.

The final in the first was 25-16 and while they came up short, there was optimism for Nipissing who had shown the night before they could hang with anyone in the conference.

Toronto took over in the second, however, making quick work of the Lakers in the second set, winning 25-12.

Nipissing passed well overall and had bright spots, but after a long and tough match Friday, they ran out of gas as the match progressed against Toronto.

In the third, the Blues put the match out of reach, defeating Nipissing 25-11 to take the match 3-0 to remain undefeated.

It may be hard to imagine, but overall, the Lakers can’t be unhappy about their effort and for the most part, their execution this weekend.

Playing the top two teams in the conference, who have a combined one loss, and playing hard for all eight sets, Nipissing has definite points to build.

Tracy Hammerton led the Lakers offensive attack with seven kills, Erika Lapierre and Carly Uden each had four and Cassie Dobson and Taylor Ley also chipped in with three.

The Lakers are on the road this weekend, travelling to Kingston to face RMC Friday night and Queen’s Saturday evening.

Men's Volleyball
The start to the 2016 portion of the schedule might be one the Nipissing Lakers men’s volleyball team wants to forget.

After a tough loss Friday where they didn’t play the way they’re capable, or how they had been playing, the Lakers came out Saturday afternoon with a new mindset and it seemed to work at times, but not enough to pick up a win.

The Toronto Varsity Blues outlasted the Lakers and came away with the 3-1 win to send the Lakers to their second straight loss.

Nipissing opened the match up with a solid 25-19 win and seemed to be in a solid position to make a run towards avenging a loss the night before.

Unfortunately, the Blues had other ideas, as they took home the next three sets, on their way to the win.

Nipissing even got out to a great start in the second set, opening up a 4-0 lead and were up 6-2 before Toronto started their comeback.

Once they took over, they controlled the rest of the set, despite the Lakers hanging tough.

It was 16-16 before Toronto truly laid claim to the win and finished things up at 25-19.

It was a similar story in the third, with the Lakers hanging tough for a while, but they trailed 11-8 and would not come closer than four points behind the rest of the way, ahead of the 25-19 final once again.

In the fourth and what turned out to be final set, the Lakers were right in it and actually held the lead late, but Toronto ran away with things in the final few points, picking up the 25-20 win and the match.

While it’s far from the end of the world, it wasn’t what the Lakers were hoping or planning on happening when they hit the court to kick off the second half of the OUA season.

Leading the Lakers was Cam Branch with 24 kills, Lyndon Sonego added 18 and Jack Peckham chipped in with five.

The Lakers are on the road this weekend, heading on a long trip to Kingston to take on the RMC Paladins and Queens Gaels.

Women's Basketball
In arguably their best and most complete game, the Nipissing Lakers women’s basketball team did pretty much everything right – except one thing.
The Lakers played three quarter of great basketball, they played half of the fourth quarter very well, but the last half, they were on the wrong end of some bounces and lost to the Laurentian Voyageurs by six, 63-57 Saturday night.
Lakers head coach Marg Jones said she was extremely proud of her team and they basically did everything they were asked, they just fell short of the win.
“They executed well, they did what we asked and they’ve been working very hard in practice, beating each other up,” she said. “You can’t ask for anything more.
The Lakers held leads of eight points after the first quarter, three points at half and six after three quarters, but a huge fourth led the Vees to the victory.
Nipissing was up 18-10 after the first and while they were outscored 16-11 in the second quarter, they did still take a 29-26 advantage into the dressing room at half-time.
In the third, the lowest scoring period of the game, the Lakers extended their lead by three and entered up the final frame up 40-34.
And just the opposite of the third quarter, the fourth was the highest scoring, as the teams combined for 46 points, with the Voyageurs holding a 29-17 advantage, which was good enough to complete the comeback.
Jones said their goal is to keep every game in the second half within two possessions late in the game – mission accomplished.
She also asked the team to execute their game plan – mission accomplished.
From top to bottom, they did what they wanted and what worked, but in the end, the Voyageurs were able to escape with the win.
Claire Abbott led the Lakers with 20 points and eight rebounds, Jamie Soffer added 10 points and 8 boards, while Ali Czich put up eight points and nine more rebounds.
If there’s a loss that a team should feel good about, this is the one for the Lakers, who will look to bounce back with a hard week of practice and ahead of games next weekend.
The Lakers are back at home this weekend for a pair of home games Friday and Saturday night.
Men's Basketball

To say it was a pretty victory may be a stretch, but at the end of the day, the Nipissing Lakers men’s basketball team are on a two game winning streak.
After finishing the first half with a win over Algoma, the Lakers opened up the second half of the season with a victory over their other northern rivals, the Laurentian Voyageurs.
Thanks to a big second quarter, where the Lakers took the lead and built on it, Nipissing battled to an 84-73 triumph.
After trailing 15-14 after the opening 10 minutes, the Lakers exploded in the second period, outscoring the Vees 27-10, as they built up a 16 points advantage at the half.
Laurentian closed the gap in both the third and fourth, outscoring Nipissing 48-43, but it was too little, too late as the Lakers held on.
Nipissing had four players hit double digits in scoring, led by Marcus Lewis who posted 25 points.
After just three points in the first half, Marvin Ngonadi had a huge second half, scoring 12 points, finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
Kalil Langston added 15 points and eight rebounds, while Joey Puddister put up 13 points.
The Lakers were strong on the boards, grabbing 40 rebounds, seven more than the Voyageurs.
On the offence, the Lakers were able to spread the ball around well, finishing with 15 assists, once again, more than their opponents from Sudbury.
Saturday’s victory was the first in a stretch of five straight home games, which continues this weekend as Laurier and Waterloo make their way north to battle the Lakers.
Laurier enters the weekend with a record of 4-5 and have lost four straight, including a 105-81 defeat this past weekend against McMaster.
Waterloo has just one win to show for this season, defeating York earlier in the year.
They are currently on a three game losing streak and has an overall record of 1-8 entering the weekend, where they face Laurentian Friday and Nipissing Saturday.
Game times for both matchups this weekend are set for 8 p.m. at the RJS Athletic Centre.

Men's Hockey
The Lakers fall 4-2 to Waterloo on the road tonight. Dale Deon and Jim McDowell scored for Nipissing. 
Women's Hockey
The Lakers earned a single point, losing 1-0 in overtime on the road to the Laurier Golden Hawks. 
Jackie Rochefort made 21 save sin the loss.