Lady Lakers sweep Falcons

The Lady Lakers improved their regular season record to 5-0
with a sweep of the Fanshawe Falcons in OCAA volleyball action. Both teams came into the contest with undefeated record as the Lakers are ranked second in the province and 10th in the country while the Falcons sit 3rd in the province and 15th in the country.

In the first set the Lakers jumped out to an early 11-5 led on the strength of some solid defense and serving. The Lakers led 20 –12 before the Falcons went on a 5-0 run to narrow the gap. The Falcons managed to tie things up at 23 and the game when into overtime as both teams battled in out with the Lakers coming out on top 29-27. The win seemed to ignite the Lakers as the offense was firing on all cylinders and the Lakers rolled taking the second set 25-12. In the final set the game was tied at 4-4 until the Lakers scored 8 straight points on the serve of setter Christina Crozier. The Lakers would not relinquish the led and won the set 25-19 to take the match 3-0.

"We played a good match against a good team," said head coach Marc LaRochelle.

"I thought our passing was very good and Aleda Carr played some solid defense. We made some mental errors down the stretch which allowed Fanshawe back in the first set but I was happy with the teams composure and ability to close out the set. Stefanie Hancock and Tara Preeper did a nice job of putting the ball away from the outside while Megan Stacey and Lynn Danis controlled the middle."

Stacey led the Lakers offense with 14 points, while Hancock poured in 12 kills followed by Crozier, Danis and Preeper each with 6 points. Christina Crozier was named the East Side Mario’s Lakers player of the game.

On the men’s side the Lakers would be in tough against the
second ranked team in the province and fifth ranked team in the country. The match featured some impressive hits from both squads and in the end only seven points separated the three final match scores in favour of the Falcons who swept the Lakers 3-0. (26-24, 25-23, 25-22)

"Today was a very disappointing loss," said head coach Duane
Culin.

"Offensively without a doubt, we played our best game
of the season. It was an exciting game of volleyball to watch but unfortunately we were too one dimensional. Defensively, at times we were out of position and unable to transition off digs.

"When you are playing teams of this caliber, games are decided by two points so every error you make no matter how small it seems could potentially be the difference of whether you win or lose. This lose only emphasizes the importance of next weekends matches versus Sheridan and division rival Humber College. If want to continue to control our own destiny we must finish 2-0." added Culin.

Lakers left side Seamus Strutt led the Lakers offense with 11 kills and one ace while Tom Cook and Eric Yung added 9 points each.

Tom Cook was named the East Side Mario’s Lakers player of the game.

Both squads will be in action next weekend as the Sheridan
College Bruins and Humber College Hawks come in to town for a pair of important divisional games. Games will be played
Saturday and Sunday, beginning with the women at 12 followed
by the men at 2 p.m.

Submitted to BayToday.ca