Lady Lakers remain undefeated

BRAMPTON, ON – The Nipissing University Lady Lakers volleyball team improved its regular season record to a perfect 10-0 on the season by sweeping the Niagara College Knights 3-0 (27-25, 25-18, 25-20) and Sheridan College Bruins 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-20).

Friday the Lady Lakers Laura Hudson (10), Megan Stacey (13) and Lynn Danis (16) recorded double digit offensive numbers to power the team passed the West division co-leaders.

“We had a solid game plan and the team did a great job of paying attention to detail and capitalizing on mismatches throughout the game,” said head coach Marc LaRochelle. “Our communication on the floor was very effective which led to consistent passing and solid defense.”

Saturday the Lakers made quick work of the Bruins. Megan Stacey was unstoppable as she collected a season high 23 points on 16 kills, 6 blocks and an ace while Lynn Danis added 11 kills and two aces.

“Christina (Crozier) set two great matches for us this weekend. She controlled the floor and made great tactical decisions.” added LaRochelle.

Showdown with Humber looming

The Lady Lakers will have another big weekend ahead as they will face Fanshawe and Humber.

The top two teams in the OCAA (Humber/Nipissing) will face off one last time before the Ontario Championships and this match will influence greatly the tournament seeding. At stake is also the Central-West Divisional title which means a bye to the Championships.

Laker men split road games

The Nipissing Lakers men’s squad split a pair of road games as they lost to Niagara 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 25-27, 25-16) and defeated Sheridan 3-1(25-15, 23-25, 25-9, 25-14) to improve their regular season record to 5-3.

“There are three types of games; games you’re suppose to win; games you need to play well to win and games that although you play well, you still may not win.” said head coach Duane Culin.

“Friday night was a game where all we needed to do was play well and we didn’t. Usually there are one or two components that break down and as a coach you can make adjustments or substitutions. This was a case where the ship was full of holes and not enough men to stop the ship from sinking,” added an obviously disappointed Culin.

Eric Yung led the offense with 15 kills, two blocks and three aces while Seamus Strutt added nine kills, two aces and a block.

Saturday, the Lakers responded well to the coach’s challenge by dominating the Bruins. Eric Yung led the offense tallying 17 points on ten kills, 2 blocks and five aces while Seamus Strutt poured in fifteen kills and an ace. Adding to offense was Zach Halwachs and Matt Brady each with eleven while Gerry Dupelle scored eight and Terry Seguin had seven.

“Today I had an opportunity to mix things up and try different line ups. We need to be able to effectively change up our rotation in order to create favourable match ups across the net. The game allowed some first year players to showcase their talent and I felt they took advantage of the court time.” added Culin.

The Lakers have two very tough matches this coming weekend with Fanshawe and Humber. Coach Culin is hoping the team will regroup and have a good week of intense practices in preparation for the weekend.

Submitted to BayToday.ca