Lakers fall to Mohawk in Humber Cup semifinals

TORONTO - The Nipissing Lakers men’s volleyball team traveled south this weekend to compete in the Humber Cup, a tournament featuring some of the top teams from the East and West divisions of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA).

The Lakers faced Algonquin College and dropped two sets 17-25 and 23-25.

“While we understood coming out flat in game 1, having just arrived prior to game time, we came out much improved in game 2, and felt we should have taken that one," said Lakers head coach Grant Ross.

“We definitely let that game get away from us.”

The team regrouped to face their northern rivals the Cambrian College Golden Shield and while they easily handled Cambrian in game one 25-17, they came out flat once again in the second set losing 28-30.

“For the second tournament in a row we have been able to control Cambrian in the first game only to come out flat and drop the second against a team we feel we should be able to handle relatively easily. If the guys feel they can contend for a medal this year they have to put in a consistent effort, both mentally and physically, all the time,” said Ross.

Faced with the prospect of not advancing to the playoff round, the Lakers responded with a much better effort against Seneca, coming out on top 25-16, 25-16.

“We were able to pass much better, which allowed us to run a faster offence, something we had started to focus on more in practice this week. More importantly though the guys showed a little more intensity, which was what the coaches were looking for,” said Ross.

Facing two traditional Eastern foes, Durham College and Loyalist College, the Lakers carried momentum into Saturday’s play. The Lakers swept Durham (25-17, 29-27) and Loyalist (25-14, 25-20) securing a spot in the playoffs against their Central-West division rivals the Mohawk Mountaineers.

“Mohawk is looking like the favorite to return to the gold medal game this year, and have won the first couple of tournaments of the year. They got the better of us two weeks ago at Durham, and always seem to get fired up to face us,” added Ross.

The Lakers dropped the first set 17-25, and despite being up 17-13 at one point, dropped the second 23-25.

“Playing Mohawk is kind of funny. They come out fired up but seem to flatten out as the match goes on. We definitely felt we should have taken game 2, however we missed a few serves at key times, and they served tough in one rotation, which caused us some problems. Give them credit, they made plays when they had to, including a stuff block at a key point in the game which swung the momentum back in their favor.

“We feel that we have not played our best as of yet this year. Our left side players have to be more consistent in terminating when they get chances, and we are not quite as consistent as we would like to be with our middles. We have improved over the last few weeks, but we have more work to do before the Christmas break to get where we want to go as a team.”

The Lakers have established themselves as a top tier team, as the newly released provincial volleyball ranking has the Lakers in 5th.

Matt Brady was also recognized for his efforts, as he was named to the tournament all star team.

The Lakers swing back into action Friday at home as they face cross-campus rivals the Canadore College Panthers to kick off the Laker Volleyball Classic Tournament. The game begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Robert J Surtees Athletics Centre.

Submitted to BayToday.ca