Following up a tough loss with a win is never easy, but the Nipissing Lakers men's volleyball team was looking to do just that Saturday afternoon.

After coming up short Friday night, the Lakers took on the Western Mustangs for a second time in the weekend, closing out the weekend and first semester of play.

A big effort and a lot of grit gave the Lakers that split, as they defeated the Mustangs 3-1.

The Lakers started strong, while Western answered, as the teams were tied 13-13 midway through the first set.

Nipissing pulled away late, going up 23-21, eventually taking the game 25-23 to go up 1-0.

The Lakers rolled into the second set, jumping out to an early 9-6 lead.

Staying out in front of Western, the Lakers pushed their advantage to 21-19 late in the set and they fought their way to a 25-23 win.

Leading 2-0 in the match, the Lakers were looking to put things away, but Western refused to quit, holding a lead throughout the third game.

Nipissing pushed back and evened things up at 18-18.

Despite a late back and forth by both teams, Western pulled away and won the set 25-21.

The fourth set was full of drama from start to finish.

The teams were tied 12-12 early and 21-21 late before both teams had calls changed against them, then for them and all resulting in the Lakers pulling off a 30-28 win to claim the match.

Marc Marchand had a monster match, earning 20 kills, Zander Kasunich had 16 and Taydon Shantz added 11 in the thrilling win for the Lakers.

Nipissing has wrapped up their play in the first semester and will be back on the court in January when they host the Guelph Gryphons.