Lancer Volleyball set to open season against Toronto Varsity Blues

The Lancer Volleyball teams will open their season this Saturday against Toronto

The Windsor Lancers Men's and Women's Volleyball teams are set to open up the 2009-10 OUA regular season at home on Saturday night against the Toronto Varsity Blues.

The Lancer Men are coming off an impressive pre-season schedule that saw them capture the McGill Invitational Tournament. The Lancers swept the two day tournament with a 3-0 record, as they lost only two sets take home the gold.

Windsor closed out their pre-season by going a perfect 5-0 in Kingston where they faced McGill, Laurier, RMC, Sir Sanford Fleming and Ryerson.

The team used the pre-season tournaments to access their team and the OUA competition and it allowed them to get a feel for what conference play should be like this year.

With a strong nucleus of returning veterans and the addition of first year recruits Ryan Le and 6'5 middle Sam Cullis, the Lancers are expected to make a strong push in the playoffs this season.

Second year players Kyle Williamson and Justin Kuskoff are again expected to play a big role as they look to build on their strong rookie seasons that saw them named to the OUA All-Rookie Team.

A continued commitment to team defence, as well as their highflying offence which was displayed in the pre-season should make the Lancers an early season favourite to contend this year in the OUA.

On the women's side, the Lancers will open their 2009-10 campaign under interim head coach Kelly Paolini. A former Lancer captain and OUA All-Star, Coach Paolini will head up the team for the first half of the season while head coach Marilyn Douglas is on sabbatical.

This year's edition of the Lancers is young and talented and will be looking to surprise teams in the always tough OUA West conference.

The Lancers have travelled to a number of tournaments in the preseason, including the Saskatoon Cup in Saskatchewan which has helped get some experience under the belt of the younger players.

In addition to veterans Jillian Fantuz and Jennifer Ellig, the Lancers will get help from some outstanding young talent including local standouts Kaila Seguin, Jessica Shepley, Michelle Pierce and Mackenzie Leckie.

Be sure to check out the Lancers in their first home game of the season this Saturday against the Toronto Varsity Blues. The women play at 6pm, while the men follow at 8pm at the St. Denis Centre.

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