After about two months of training, practicing and pre-season, the Nipissing Lakers men's volleyball team is just a day away from hitting the court for real.

The Lakers open up the 2016-17 OUA season against York, in Toronto Friday and versus Trent, in Peterborough Saturday afternoon.

While they have used the pre-season as preparation, it has been a long grind and everyone is ready to go.

"It has been a long preseason, we have played a total of 10 matches. They guys are extremely excited to get the season started as they have been preparing for this opportunity since the end of last season," Lakers head coach Eric Yung said. "It is important for our guys to keep that excitement in check as we open our season against a well-seasoned team in York."

This year's teams will be one of the deepest the Lakers have put out and that's going to benefit them this season.

Even though they've battled injuries this year, they have been able to grind out wins in exhibition matches due to contributions from both veterans and younger players.

"A couple of our veterans has been battling injuries for the last few weeks, it prevented us from being able to utilize some of the lineups and systems that I had originally planned. However, these injuries provided the coaching staff the opportunity to see some of the younger players in actions against some very good teams in preseason which also has added to our depth," Yung explained. "Our strengths this year will definitely be our physicality and our balanced attack. We have numerous offensive players that can put the ball away at any given time which makes us a tough team to defend."

With the addition of Trent, OUA Men's Volleyball has gone to two divisions, split into a division of seven and one of six.

The Lakers are in the East, along with Queens, RMC, Ryerson, York, Toronto and Trent.

This year's playoffs will see the top four teams in each division advance, playing a cross-over in the quarter-finals.

So while it won't be easy, the Lakers are in a better position to qualify for the post-season and with the roster they have, that's the mission.

"We don't usually focus on product goals as much as focus on process goals. We believe if we put our best foot forward every day, the results and record will show. However, we do believe we have what it takes to be a playoff team, from there anything can happen," Yung said.

It's hard to pinpoint a player, or even two, that will standout for the Lakers, but it's clear after a few months of training, a number of Lakers are ready for breakout seasons.

Yung said it will take everyone in a Lakers uniform to be successful, however, there are a number of players to keep an eye on.

Senior captains Mike Ballagh and Jack Peckham are great leaders on and off the court. Peckham has worked tremendously hard on his physicality and patrols the net effectively for us. Ballagh is the general in our back court and will take charge in that area.

Coming off a great summer training with Volleyball Canada, Steve Wood will be a dominate force in the OUA this year. Capable of playing the outside hitter, as well as middle, positions, his versatility will keep the defense on their toes.

Rookies Mason Blais, Ryan Samuelson and Randy Beauchamp has already gained lots of experience through the season with all the injuries, look for them to contribute whenever called upon.

"We have managed to compete at a high level during the preseason," Yung said, adding he's looking for more of the same as the season begins Friday night.

Game time is 8pm against York Friday and 4pm Saturday against Trent.