Toronto, ON – The Nipissing Lakers Men's Volleyball team came up short this weekend in Toronto, losing two matches to the Varsity Blues. 

Friday, November 21, the Lakers battled hard in the first set, eventually earning a 13-12 lead courtesy of a Marc Marchand kill. Marchand added two more kills as Nipissing lead 15-13. The teams traded runs of 2 and 3 points each, before being tied 20-20, then 22-22, and 23-23. Toronto's Hunter Arulpragasam had a crucial kill for the Blues, followed by a Maxime Gratton kill to give Toronto a 25-23 win. 

The Lakers, clearly agitated by the lost first set, opened the second on a 9-0 run, and after Toronto grabbed 2 points, climbed up to a 16-2 lead. Justice Smith, Marc Marchand, Trent O'Brien, and Zander Kasunich were instrumental in this lead development for the Lakers. Toronto found some life, grabbing 4 points, and the score found itself to be 20-6. Ben Franz provided a kill for the 21st point, and Trent O'Brien had 2 key kills to put the Blues away 25-13. A big response for Nipissing.  

The third set began more like the first, with the teams trading points for a close score. Marchand had another kill for the Lakers, followed soon by a Zander Kasunich kill. Toronto led the Lakers 14-9 in the third set. Toronto then took 5 of the next 7 points to lead 18-12 before Nipissing called a timeout. The Lakers rebounded, scoring 3 in a row to cut the deficit to 3. The teams traded points until 21-18 was the score for the Blues. Toronto then took 4 of the last 5 points to win 25-19. 

Nipissing got out to a 5-3 lead to begin the fourth set, but Toronto responded with 4 in a row to take a 7-5 lead. The Blues lead 9-7 before Nipissing went on a 9-0 run to lead 16-9. March Marchand had 3 kills, Zander Kasunich had 2, and Jack Svendsen had a service ace in the run. Toronto found their footing, take 4 of the next 6 points. Kasunich and Marchand each had a kill in the next two points to get the score to 20-13. Marchand then had 3 kills for Nipissing, while Kasunich scored the Lakers 24th point on his own kill. Marchand then capped an impressive set by serving an ace to tie the match at 2 sets apiece. 

In the match-deciding 5th set, Nipissing led Toronto 3-0 before the Blues stormed back and tied the match at 3-3. Jimmy Gill had a kill, and with a Toronto service error, the Lakers led 7-5. Ben Franz had the 8th point with a kill of his own, and after 2 Toronto attack errors, Nipissing lead 10-8. Toronto promptly tied the match 10-10, before adding 2 more points. Nipissing would tie the set at 12, then 13. Unfortunately, Maxime Gratton scored the final 2 kills for Toronto, who took the 5th set 15-13 and the match 3-2. 

Zander Kasunich led the Lakers with 18 kills and 2 service aces in the match. Marc Marchand scored 14 kills and had 2 service aces of his own. Justice Smith had 6 kills. Jack Svenden was impressive in the match with a service ace and 14 digs. Taydon Shantz contributed 15 digs. Trent O'Brien had 13 kills and 5 solo blocks in the loss. 

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The Lakers looked to best Toronto in their 2nd meeting in as many days on Saturday, November 22nd.  

Toronto got off to a hot start, leading 6-1 in set 1. Zander Kasunich responded with a kill, and Justice Smith scored one of his own to slow the Varsity Blues down. Toronto led 10-4 at the middle point of the set after a Nipissing timeout.  

Nipissing took 4 of the next 5 points after the timeout, but Toronto responded with 4 in a row to restore their 8-point lead. The Lakers took 6 of the next 8 points to cut the Blues' lead to just 3. Toronto's Maxime Gratton responded, and the Blues lead 20-17.  

Zander Kasunich scored a kill, and Toronto's attacking error on the next point got the Lakers to within a point, down 22-21. However, Toronto scored 3 in a row to win 25-21.  

The second set was a close affair once again, as Nipissing led 9-7 after Toronto had 2 attacking errors in a row. Nipissing then led 12-9 after Ben Franz scored a kill and Toronto racked up more errors. The Lakers took a 14-11 lead before Toronto tied the set at 14. Toronto then took 5 of the next 8 points to lead 19-17. The Blues served an ace to lead 21-18, as Nipissing called a timeout. Ben Franz got the Lakers back in the game with a kill for the Lakers 19th point. Toronto then took 3 in a row to push the set to the brink, 24-19.  Nipissing then showed immense fight, as Justice Smith scored a kill, and the Lakers defence forced Toronto into more attacking errors to bring the score to 24-22. Toronto took the set 25-22 off a Justice Smith service error.  

Toronto built on their second set win, leading 4-2 early in the third. The Blues then committed 2 errors, giving Nipissing the tie at 4-4. Toronto took 3 in a row to lead 806, before kills by Jimmy Gill and Ben Franz tied things at 8. The teams traded points until Toronto went on a run, taking 5 of 6 points to lead 15-11. Nipissing caught up, capitalizing on Toronto's attacking and service errors, and the match was 17-15 for Toronto. 

Jimmy Gill provided a kill for Nipissing's 17th point of the set, but Toronto's momentum proved too strong, as the Blues won 5 of the next 6 points to close the set 25-19, and take the match 3-0.  

Zander Kasunich had 6 kills and 4 digs in the loss. Jimmy Gill scored 8 kills and a service ace. Ben Franz scored 6 kills, 4 blocks, and 2 digs for the Lakers. Taydon Shantz had 5 digs. 

The two losses move Men's Volleyball to 3-5 on the season. The Lakers are back in action with two matches against the Western Mustangs this weekend at RJS Athletic Centre. Match 1 goes Friday, November 28th at 8PM, and match 2 goes Saturday, November 29th at 4PM. Stream all the action live on OUA.tv. 

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