Volleyball recap - Golden Men and Silver Ladies
The Lakers volleyball teams were in action last weekend at the Humber Cup where the men made history in bringing home gold, and the women represented well in mining silver.
Lakers Humber Cup Champions
The Nipissing Lakers men’s volleyball team made history last weekend by claiming their first Humber Cup Title, defeating the Mohawk Mountaineers 2-0 in the finals.
The tournament featured last years’ gold, silver and bronze medallist along with other strong West division contenders.
In round robin play, the Lakers defeated Redeemer (2-1), Cambrian (2-0), Trent (2-0), Loyalist (2-1) and lost to Durham (2-1).
“The round robin was an opportunity for us to showcase all 14 of our players,” said head coach Eric Yung. “Although we lacked consistent execution, we were good enough to qualify for the semi-finals.”
In the semi-finals the Lakers faced a familiar foe and rallied, despite a shaky start, to dominate the match, defeating the Humber Hawks 2-0 to advance to the finals.
“Our team has waited eight months for the opportunity to play against the defending OCAA champions Humber Hawks and we got off to a horrific start missing our first four serves and falling behind 8-2. However, the boys shook off their nerves and began to settle into a rhythm with tough serving and blocking. We carried our momentum right through to the finals dropping a very determined Mohawk squad in two straight sets giving the Nipissing Men's program the first ever Humber Cup Title.”
“I am very proud of our accomplishments from this weekend, however we must now work extremely hard to continue this success and prepare ourselves for a long and tough regular season schedule in the highly competitive western conference."
The Lakers begin the season this weekend with a pair of home games as they face Conestoga Saturday and Sheridan Sunday. The games begin at 2 p.m. in the newly constructed gymnasium.
Lady Lakers claim silver at Humber Cup
The Nipissing Lady Lakers came up just short at the Humber Cup falling in the finals to their arch rivals, the Humber Hawks, 2-0 to claim silver once again.
"I didn’t think this was our best match," said head coach Marc LaRochelle. "We came out tentative and played to not make mistakes, which is never a good mentality."
"To their credit Humber was focused and executed and defended better than we did. They deserved the victory. We have to learn the lessons that come with losing tough matches and be willing to make the necessary changes if we hope to defeat an experienced team like Humber."
The Lady Lakers cruised through the round robin portion of the tournament, sweeping all their matches against Redeemer, Trent, Cambrian, Durham and Loyalist. The Lady Lakers finished first in pool play and defeated Fanshawe 2-0 in the semi-finals to advance to the finals.
The Lady Lakers will now kick off the regular season schedule at home this weekend against the Conestoga Condors and Sheridan Bruins. The Lady Lakers take to the court at noon both Saturday and Sunday in the newly constructed gymnasium.