In their first appearance at the national championships, the Lancer men's volleyball team came to play and battled hard against the defending champion Trinity Western Spartans. However, despite a promising first set win, the Lancers were outmatched against the number one seed, falling 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 18-25, 20-25).
 
GAME STATS
Brad Gyemi led the Lancers offensively with 11 kills and 12.5 points, while Windsor Player of the Game Roland Bouchard finished the game with 10 kills and 10.5 points. TWU's Jesse Elser led all players in scoring, recording 14 kills.
 
Spartans' Carter Bergen was the best defensive player on the court, digging up 12 balls, while Adam Schriemer had 49 assists on the night to lead all players. Nolan Langley led the Lancers with 26 assists.
 
GAME FLOW
The Lancers came out of the gate unafraid of their highly ranked opponents, holding the lead for much of the first set. The Lancers were led by Pierce Johnson and his six kills in the first half. Despite the Spartans' late push the Lancers were able to hold them off, winning 25-22
 
In the second set, the Spartans came out firing, jumping out to 5-1 lead early. Trinity Western showed no signs of letting up either as their lead ranged from seven to three for the majority of the second set. The Lancers struggled with the Spartans' skill from the service line, and really struggled to string points together. Despite a couple good plays late, the Lancers dropped the second set, 25-18.
 
In the third set, the Spartans again took an early lead. The Lancers however, were more prepared and handled the Spartans well, staying close and even taking a short-lived 10-8 lead mid way through the third set. Unfortunately for the Blue and Gold, the Spartans showed why they had earned the number one seed; storming back to win the set 25-18 and take a 2-1 match stranglehold into the fourth set.
 
The Lancers started the fourth set off well, with Pierce Johnson hammering home an ace to give the Lancers a lead to open the set. The good start didn't last long though as the Spartans began to separate after a brief 3-3 tie. The Lancers were forced in to a timeout down 13-8. Despite playing much better out of the timeout, the Lancers couldn't complete the comeback and fell 25-20.
 
UP NEXT
Windsor will face the Montreal Carabins in the consolation semi-finals Saturday afternoon at 3:00pm. The game can be seen live at sportscanada.tv.