OCAA Volleyball - Lakers clawed by Hawks

The Nipissing Lakers men and women came home winless after a weekend visit to Toronto to take on the Humber Hawks.

The Nipissing Lady Lakers (4-1) volleyball team currently ranked second in the OCAA and 10th nationally suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the top ranked Humber Hawks (5-0).

The Lady Lakers played a solid first set controlling play and winning 25-20 however the Hawks would rally from the set back to take the next three 22, 19 and 16.

“We got off to the start we wanted,” said head coach Marc LaRochelle.

“Early in the match we were focused and really executed our game plan well however after the second set we lost focus and started playing as individuals. I think we learned the hard way that this does not work well.”

“The positive news is that we continue to make strides in the right direction and if we can remain focused on our team goals then we will continue to improve.”

Liza Grenon led the offence with 17 points while Stefanie Hancock added 12 points.

The Lady Lakers will be back on the road this weekend for a pair of matches against Sheridan (1-4) Saturday and Niagara (2-2) Sunday.

Hawks blank Lakers

The Nipissing Lakers (2-2) men suffered their second loss of the season at the hands of the Humber Hawks who are ranked number 1in the OCAA and fourth nationally. The Hawks swept the Lakers 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-19) to move to 5-0 on the season.

Unforced errors and lack of execution seemed to be the Lakers worst enemy on this day and head coach Eric Yung felt that besides Scott Coulthard the outside hitters struggled to execute and that at this level the expectation is to be more consistent.

First year left side Coulthard was the only hitter in double digits for the Lakers with ten offensive points while Frankie Edgecombe added 4 points.

"The team was not up to the challenge of facing the number one team in the province,” added Yung. “There were moments of excellence during the match, unfortunately that is not nearly enough to compete against anyone in this league, let alone Humber.

“We cannot expect to be successful just by going through the motions on the court and our lack of passion/emotion takes us out of close sets and matches.

“We are heading into the heart of the season with five crucial games left in the first semester, this team needs to find a way to play together with more energy on the court and execute on a regular basis."

The Lakers will have the week to re-focus as they are on the road to face Sheridan (2-3) Saturday and Niagara (1-2) Sunday.

Submitted to BayToday.ca