Lakers claim battle of the Bay

The Nipissing Lakers volleyball teams claimed round one of the battle of the Bay by defeating their cross campus rivals the Canadore Panthers.

On the men’s side the Lakers took the early lead however seemed the Panthers on the strength of some good blocking and solid defence responded and took the first set 25-23. The Lakers then dug themselves a hole however Lakers middle player Drew Pahapill went on a ten point serving run which allowed the Lakers to come back take the second set 25-22. The dominated the third set winning 25-13 and closed out the match win another closely contested contest 25-22.

“The guys came out pretty flat,” said head coach Grant Ross. “Canadore blocked well and dug up some balls and we didn’t match their intensity early on. As the match wore on I thought we picked it up a little.”

“It’s nice to get the win however I don’t think we can be satisfied with our performance. Hopefully we can think about this during the holidays and re-focus in the New Year and make a run at the Ontario Championships.”

Seamus Strutt led the offense for the Lakers with 15 kills, 1 block and three aces and 11 digs. Eric Yung added 9 points with 8 digs while Matt Rice added 7 kills.

On the women’s side the Lady Lakers swept the Panthers 3-0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-20).

“This win was a complete team effort,” said assistant coach Tyler Landry. “We had a game plan coming into this match and it was rewarding to see all players perform well.”

“We were much more successful on both sides of the ball and it showed in the results.” Added Landry

Laura Hudson led the offense with 10 points followed by Chandra Massey and Marianna Strutt who both added 7 points.

The Lady Lakers will be traveling to Sault Ste Marie Friday to play their last match of the first half of the season. The Lakers will be looking to bring their record to 6-2 on the season.

Submitted to BayToday.ca