Hamilton, ON – The Lancer men's volleyball team put on a tremendous show in their OUA semi-final game, but were unable to defeat the defending OUA champion McMaster Marauders.
 
Windsor fell in three exciting sets 3-1 (22-25, 18-25, 25-23, 20-25)
 
The Lancers will now face the York Lions in the OUA bronze medal game on Saturday with the winner advancing to the CIS championships next weekend in Saskatoon.
 
With the game tied at four points apiece early in the first set, the Marauders went on a 9-0 run to take a 13-4 lead. Windsor bounced back and went on a mini-run of their own before the Marauders took a 16-10 lead at the technical time-out.
 
Coming out of the technical, Windsor went on a 7-3 run and a huge block by Jake MacNeil forces McMaster to call a time-out as the Lancers narrow their lead to two, 19-17.
 
The Lancers keep it tight for the remainder of the set, however the Marauders stayed ahead and took the first set 25-22.
 
In the second, the two teams traded points to start the set but the Marauders eventually built a 13-7 lead causing head coach James Gravelle to call a time-out to re-group the troops.
 
After the technical, Windsor battled hard and traded points with the host team, keeping the top seed on their toes, however McMaster's initial lead stayed intact and they came out on top of the Lancers 25-18.
 
The Blue & Gold showed confidence and poise to start the third set and built an early lead on the Marauders. MAC chipped away at the points, and the teams eventually traded points until the Lancers built an 11-8 lead as the Marauders called a time-out.
 
Coming out of the time-out, the Marauders regained their composure and tied the game at twelve, causing Coach Gravelle to call him own time-out.
 
With the score 19-16 in favour of the hosts, the Lancers are awarded a point until the officials reverse their decision and award the point to the Marauders. Windsor questions the call and after some discussion with the officials is handed a yellow card.
 
Up 21-20, the officials then turn the tables and Windsor is re-awarded a point when the officials re-call a Mac point for a four-hits. With the score deadlocked at 21, Windsor builds on their gaining momentum en route to a 25-23 set victory.
 
It looked like the wind came out of the Lancers' sail early in the fourth, but the Blue & Gold came back from a 12-6 deficit to bring the score within four at 17-13. Windsor's momentum picked up after Andrew Chelladurai made an incredible save with his foot to keep the Lancers in the game and lift the energy on the court to new heights.
 
The Lancers continued to pressure the Marauders right until the end, but fell 25-20 after knocking the ball off the ceiling on match point.
 
Simone was an offensive spark plug for the Lancers, converting 10-25 attempts versus four errors (.240) and adding four aces and a block for a game high of 15 points.
 
Windsor will face the York Lions in the bronze medal game Saturday afternoon at 5:30pm at the Burridge Gym. The game can be seen live at oua.tv.