Lady Lakers take on Durham Lords in quarters

The Nipissing Lady Lakers volleyball team will face the Durham Lords in a sudden death quarter-final match on Saturday beginning at noon at the Surtees gym and at stake it is a spot in the OCAA final four which will take place at Durham College Feb 27/28.

The Lady Lakers finished with a 17-3 regular season record placing second in the West division 6 points behind the undefeated Humber Hawks. The second place finish earned the Lady Lakers a bye in the first round of the playoffs which took place last weekend.

Durham finished the regular season with a 15-5 record finishing 3rd in the East division. The Lords record is deceiving as they forfeited four matches early in the season for using an ineligible player and have beat most of the top teams in the East division.

Durham defeated the Sault 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-22) in OCAA cross-over playoff action last weekend. The Lords are led offensively by the combination of middle Mandi Doris and left side Kristen Conner. The pair is averaging 3.63 and 3.44 points per game respectively.

The Lady Lakers will counter with a one two bunch of their own as Stefanie Hancock is leading the West division with a 4.75 points per game average while Laura Hudson is at 3.13. Fifth year co-captain Christina Crozier will handle the setting duties for the Lady Lakers. The Ladies have performed well at home as the only match they dropped was a 19-17 fifth set marathon to rival Humber College.

In the only meeting of the teams this season the Lady Lakers defeated Durham 2-0 at the Humber Cup in early November however as coach Marc LaRochelle stated everything is different in the playoffs.

“Playoff matches bring the best out of teams,” said LaRochelle.

“We are preparing for a battle and we understand that past matches have no relevance on future matches. We must work hard and execute every time we step on the court whether in practice or in a game and if we do that positive results will follow.”

Submitted to BayToday.ca