Playing in their first tournament of the season, the Lancer men's volleyball team finished fourth overall at the Ryerson Invitational this past weekend in Toronto.
In their first game of the tournament, the Lancers faced off against the Western Mustangs. In a battle of west provincial rivals, the Mustangs came out on top in four sets, defeating Windsor 25-23, 25-16, 22-25, 25-20. Fourth-year Lancer Harrison Oake had a team-high 15 kills. First-team OUA all-star Josh Edwards added 10 kills and four blocks in a losing cause for Windsor.
Later that day the Lancers handed Sherbrooke their first loss of the tournament with a 3-0 sweep. Led by player of the game Ryan Le, the Lancers took the match in straight sets (25-20, 25-21, 25-17) to secure their first win of the tournament.
On Saturday the Lancers opened up the day against the York Lions. In a marathon that saw two of the five sets go beyond 30 points, Windsor outlasted York, winning its second match of the tournament (25-19, 30-32, 28-26, 33-35, 16-14). Player of the game Kyle Williamson garnered a tournament-high 27 kills, while York rookie Nikola Sandic led the Lions with 21 kills.
With the Western Mustangs going undefeated in round-robin play, the last match of the day between the Rams and Lancers would decide who would join them in the finals. Both teams had already been put to the test earlier in the day in matches that went the full five sets, and a late start to this game meant that fatigue might play a role. It was the Rams who had more left in the tank, as they came away with a straight sets victory, qualifying them for the finals on Sunday.
With the loss, the Lancers went on to face Sherbrooke for the second time in the bronze medal game on Sunday morning.
Maxime-Rock Claessens Rivet led the way with a game-high 22 kills as the Sherbrooke Vert-et-Or defeated the Windsor Lancers in four sets (25-20, 24-26, 27-25, 29-27). The QSSF all-star also picked up three aces and three blocks in securing a third-place finish for Sherbrooke. Harrison Oake had a team-high 20 kills for Windsor, while teammates Kyle Williamson and Josh Edwards each tallied 14 kills.
The Lancers finish the tournament in fourth place with two wins, with Kyle Williamson being named to the tournament all-star team.
