North Bay, ON – The Nipissing Lakers Men's Volleyball team got the job done, again beating Toronto Metropolitan University by a score of 3 sets to 1.
The Lakers and Bold traded points to start the game before TMU went on a 9-point run to take a 13-5 lead. Nipissing stopped the momentum but only briefly, as TMU took 3 more points to take a 16-6 lead. The Lakers did show fight, gaining some ground back and cutting the deficit to 19-10. Unfortunately, the Bold's lead was too large, and they closed the set winning 6 of the next 9 points and taking it 25-14.
The second set was a very close contest, featuring both teams keeping pace with each other into an 18-18 tie. Kills by Taydon Shantz and Justice Smith gave the Lakers some life and 2 service errors down the stretch from TMU helped Nipissing grab a tight 25-21 win to tie things up.
The third set was pure domination by the Lakers, who opened things with a 9-0 run. TMU grabbed a couple points to get on the board, but the Lakers were determined to make quick work of their opponents. Nipissing won 7 of the next 10 points and followed with a 9/13 point run to close the third set 25-12 in impressive fashion.
The Lakers made the fourth set like the third, opening with a strong run to take a 10-4 lead. The Lakers continued to press and eventually led 16-8. From there, the Lakers got the job done, winning 9 of the final 16 points to close out the set and win the match 3-1. Zander Kasunich provided two key kills for points 20 and 21, and Benjamin Franz sent Nipissing fans home happy with his match-winning kill.
For Nipissing, the win moves the team to 2-2 on the season, sweeping TMU in both matches this weekend.
Justice Smith recorded 16 kills in the match, and Taydon Shantz followed suit, recording 13. Jack Svedsen led the Lakers in digs with 7, while Zander Kasunich and Justice Smith each recorded 5 in the win. The 3rd and 4th sets were particularly impressive for the Lakers, as Nipissing outscored TMU 50-17 in the final two sets combined.
Lakers Men's Volleyball is back in action November 14-15h when the team travels to Kingston, Ontario for two matches with Queen's University. Match 1 goes Friday, November 14th at 7:30pm, while Match 2 is slated for Saturday, November 15th at 3:30pm. Catch all the action live on OUA.tv.
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