WINDSOR, Ont.- The Windsor Lancers men's volleyball team will kick-off their season on Friday evening at the St. Denis Centre where they will host the defending OUA champion McMaster Marauders.

After finishing with a 5-13 record and out of a playoff spot in 2012-13, the Lancers will look for a fresh start under first-year head coach James Gravelle. Gravelle, who served as the men's assistant coach over the last few seasons, is looking to establish a new, hard-working identity amongst the men, which will be based on defence, energy and effort. 

"I think I've made important changes to our approach to practice," said Gravelle. "We operate with urgency and intensity every time we get together in the gym and have goals every practice that are laid out to the players before each session. I've also tried to make a focus on team unity and have made it a point to integrate the first year players into our program quickly with offsite team-building events. Over the long term I believe we'll see the benefit to being a cohesive group when the going gets tough."

The men will undertake the difficult challenge of filling the void left by outside hitter Kyle Williamson who completed his eligibility last year. The two-time CIS all-Canadian and three-time OUA all-star led the Lancers in most statistical categories last season, and his presence will be missed on the Windsor front-court.

However, the men are returning a number of scoring contributors, including Greg Simone who was second to Williamson with 3.9 points per set last season. The London, Ont. native picked up 2.45 kills per set, and also represented Canada along with Gabriel Burlacu at the FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships, where the duo made it to the first round of the playoffs.

Fourth-year Adam Thompson finished last season with 2.6 points per set, and led the Lancers with a total of 36 blocks. The experience of gritty fifth-year middle Scott Hickman will also be an asset to this year's squad, as will a seasoned Andrew Chelladurai, who was Windsor's everyday setter in 2012-13. 

Gravelle was happy with Windsor's preseason, which saw the Lancers go 1-2 in exhibition matches. "We were able to get all of our players important game experience against conference and non-conference opponents."

The men will be immediately challenged to begin the conference schedule, as they take on two of the OUA's best squads last season. Windsor begins the season on Friday against the Marauders, who are ranked No. 2 in the nation in the preseason's CIS Top 10. The men will return to the St. Denis Centre on Saturday night for a match-up against the Waterloo Warriors who finished 14-4 last year and were ranked second in the conference.

Gravelle explained that the team is focused on making the playoffs this season, but emphasized the importance of enhancement both on and off the court for the men.

"We want to make sure that we are better as a team when we leave the gym each and every day. We are also focused on being successful in the classroom and in the community. We are committed to improving our team GPA over last season and we will continue our outreach into the inner city schools in Windsor this season by running clinics and speaking to grades 7 and 8 students about the importance of academics and doing the right thing."