Lakers volleyball teams keep rolling

The men’s and women’s volleyball teams stuck to their winning ways this past weekend, powering past the Niagara Knights and Fanshawe Falcons. Tonight the teams face cross-campus rivals the Canadore College Panthers in the Battle of the Bay.Lady Lakers continue to rollThe Nipissing Lady Lakers improved to 7-1 on the season with home victories against the visiting Niagara Knights and Fanshawe Falcons this past weekend.
Saturday, the Lady Lakers swept the Niagara Knights 3-0 ( 25-16, 25-12, 25-23) to keep pace with the Humber Hawks in a race for the division lead. The Lakers dominated every offensive category with Megan Gilmore and Brittany Ardron leading the way for the Lakers with 14 and 11 offensive points respectively.
Sunday, the Lady Lakers received a wake-up call as Fanshawe took the opening set 25-19 and threatened to take the second set before the Lakers pushed hard after 20 to capture the set 25-23. The third and fourth sets were much more stable for the Lady Lakers as they were able to make some adjustments and win 25-19 and 25-16 to capture the match.
Lucia DeMarco had a career best game scoring an impressive 23 points while Gilmore and Ardron rounded out the offence with 14 and 11 points respectively.
“We had some very good individual performances during this match,” said head coach Marc LaRochelle. “However, collectively as a team, we made too many unforced errors and our defence was weak. I give Fanshawe a lot of credit. They came ready to play and made us work for every point.”
The Lady Lakers will end the first half of the season with the Battle of the Bay as they host their cross campus rivals the Canadore Panthers tonight beginning at 6 p.m.Lakers remain unbeaten
The Nipissing Lakers scored weekend victories over the visiting Niagara Knights and Fanshawe Falcons to improve to 8-0 on the season.
Saturday, the Knights gave the Lakers all they could handle and stretched the match to the distance, taking a 5-1 lead in the fifth set before the Lakers stormed back to capture the five set thriller 15-10 (20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 15-10).
It wasn’t the Lakers best performance of the season as they struggled to find consistency. None the less, it was a gutsy performance to put a win on the board and keep the undefeated season alive.
Lakers middle player Frankie Edgecombe led the offence with 17 points while Scott Coulthard poured in 15. Rick Regier, Adam and Andre Leblanc each added 11 points.
Sunday, the Lakers shook off a slow start and dominated the final three sets displaying their high powered offence and solid blocking. The Lakers clipped the Falcons 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-18).
The Leblanc twins led the offence with 12 points each while Edgecombe added 11.
Lakers setter Taylor Bielby was named the Boston Pizza Player of the Game.
The Lakers will round out the season’s first half tonight at 8 pm as they host their cross campus rivals the Canadore Panthers.
The Lakers are currently ranked number one in the OCAA and second in the country.