It was the perfect end to a solid first half of the season for the Nipissing Lakers men's volleyball team, which picked up a huge road win.

Having lost two in a row entering the weekend, the Lakers took on the Guelph Gryphons Saturday afternoon, but the Gryphons out lasted the Lakers in four sets.

Guelph grabbed a 2-0 lead after winning the first set 25-20 and the second set 25-22.

The Lakers refused to quit, however, and picked up the third set win, 25-20, to extend the match to a fourth set.

It took a little extra time, but the Gryphons did prevail by a final of 26-24 to take the match 3-1 and send the Lakers to their third straight loss.

Cam Branch once again led the Nipissing offence with 20 kills, Lyndon Sonego added 12 of his own and Warren Taylor chipped in with seven.

On the back end of a road trip, the Lakers were looking to salvage the weekend and earn a split, and in dramatic fashion, they did just that.

The Lakers fought back twice, trailing 1-0 and 2-1 and ended up winning 15-13 in the fifth set to take the match over the York Lions.

The Lions opened up the match winning 25-15, but Nipissing quickly responded with a 25-22 win to even things up.

The Lions regained the lead with a tight 25-23 win in the third set and the Lakers responded once again, winning by the same score to send the match to a fifth set.

In the final set, the teams went back and forth, with the biggest lead being a three point swing throughout the entire set.

While the Lakers led from the beginning, it wasn't easy to claim the final set and the match, but a truly gutsy effort gave Nipissing their fifth win of the first half, putting their record at 5-6 at the Christmas break.

Branch had another monster game, earning 24 kills to lead Nipissing. Sonego picked up 12 more kills and Jack Peckham added nine of his own.

The Lakers are now off until the New Year, when they resume play.