Taking on one of the league's top teams, the Nipissing Lakers men's volleyball showed they are for real Saturday afternoon.

While the final result didn't go their way, the Lakers gave the visiting Guelph Gryphons all they could handle, as the Gryphons outlasted Nipissing 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-19, 25-22) to escape the Surtees Athletic Centre with the victory.

The opening game saw both teams battle and look for control of the match early on.

The Gryphons eventually took the advantage and the lead 19-15 late in the set and secured a 25-21 victory to grab the 1-0 lead.

Nipissing bounced back in the second set, leading for the majority of the game.

They held at 16-12 advantage at the technical timeout, pushed their lead to 23-17 and held on for a 25-20 win to bring the match even at 1-1.

Unfortunately, the Gryphons would take the next two sets.

In the third set, Guelph jumped out to a 16-11 lead at the set break and outscored Nipissing 9-8 down the stretch to pick up the win and take the lead.

The fourth set saw the teams traded points and sit even at 11-11 early on.

Guelph had a slight lead at the midway point, 16-14, as they looked to close out the match.

Nipissing caught fire, as the teams sprinted to the end of the set and saw the score even at 20-20.

Guelph outscored Nipissing 5-2 at that point to pick up the fourth set win and claim the match 3-1, to earn the two points.

Jackson Young had a big match, picking up 12 kills and Liam Ludlow added 11 in Saturday's contest.

Originally the Lakers were set to take on the Waterloo Warriors Sunday, but the match has been cancelled/postponed due to inclement weather expected in the area.

Nipissing is back in action Jan. 17 at Toronto.