A playoff atmosphere in the gym, a playoff style match and a great night of volleyball.

That would be a very accurate way to describe Friday night's contest between the Nipissing Lakers men's volleyball team and the Toronto Varsity Blues.

The Lakers and Blues engaged in a thriller that, in the end, went to the Blues as they came from behind to top the Lakers 3-2, including 15-13 in the fifth set.

Right from the first serve, the teams were putting everything on the line and competing for each and every point.

Nipissing started strong and led 16-14 at the technical timeout of the first set.

While they didn't dominate, the Lakers stayed in control of the set, building their lead up to 23-20 before putting things away at 25-21

In the second, it was Toronto signaling the technical timeout, as they held a slight 16-15 advantage over the Lakers.

The lead didn't last, however, as the teams continued to battle and in the end, it was Nipissing scoring the final four points of the set to turn around a 22-21 deficit into a 25-22 win.

Up 2-0, the Lakers looked to put the match away and get back into the win column.

Toronto had other plans.

The Blues led 16-14 at the break in the third and like the first two sets, play was even right to the final point.

In a reverse of the second set where Nipissing finished strong, it was Toronto who tallied the final three points to keep the match alive with a 25-22 win.

Riding momentum, Toronto came out flying in the fourth and had the biggest separation of any technical timeout break – leading 16-12.

Trailing 22-15, Nipissing fought their way back to make it 23-19, but Toronto put things away and forced a fifth set.

In the deciding game, the Lakers started strong and led 2-0 before Toronto replied.

At the break in the fifth, Nipissing held an 8-7 and pushed that to 13-10 and had the victory in grasp, but the Blues caught fire late and scored five points in a row to steal an epic match.

Steve Wood had a huge night, picking up 26 kills and 29.5 points and Curtis MacPherson had 15 kills and 16 points.

Nipissing wraps up the first semester with a match against Ryerson Saturday at 8pm.