By Andrew Papadopoulos

The No. 10 Windsor Lancers men's volleyball team finished the 2019-20 OUA regular season with a 10-7 overall record clinching a playoff spot for the third straight season by locking up the third seed in the OUA West division. 
 
Given the current playoff format, the Lancers are set to take on the second ranked seed in the OUA East division which has been claimed by the No. 6 Queen's Gaels.  This means that the Lancers will be taking a road trip up the 401 East to Kingston this weekend to do battle with the Gaels to open their post-season quest for winning the Forsyth Cup and keeping hopes of medaling provincially for a third straight season alive. 
 
The Queen's Gaels finished their season with a 14-4 overall record on the year and are riding a five-game winning streak into playoffs while the Lancers are coming off a two-game winning streak after a successful 2-0 weekend at home to close out the regular season last weekend. 
 
Coming into this playoff marquee matchup, the Lancers will look to avenge their 3-0 loss to the Gaels back on January 18^th at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse in their lone regular season meeting on the year.  The Gaels are also the defending champions of the OUA after having defeated the McMaster Marauders in the finals last season to claim the Forsyth Cup and earned a trip to nationals.  Both teams are well-decorated programs with established success over the past few seasons and it will make for an interesting marquee matchup featured in the first round of the OUA men's volleyball playoffs. 
 
The Lancers have won two OUA bronze medals over the last two seasons and have also earned a nationals' berth and appearance between that time under the strong leadership of head coach James Gravelle and his trusted coaching staff who all have deep roots with the program.  The team has also been led by a strong core of veteran players this season which includes players such as team captain Pierce Johnson, veteran setter Nolan Langley, and all-star caliber middle Dami Alalade to name a few fourth-year vets.  Fifth-year star veteran Brad Gyemi has also seen his fair share of OUA playoff matches over his tenure with the program.  I had an opportunity to gather some thoughts from all of the above members of the squad, who all shared common themes of what it is going to take to be successful at the Queen's Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC) this weekend. 
 
"Queen's is a strong team and will be a great challenge." Head Coach James Gravelle said who is in his 7^th season of leading the program.  "We were not happy with the result of our regular season match, and so this is an opportunity to make up for that one." 
 
Fourth-year outside hitter and team captain Pierce Johnson agreed with his coach's comments.  "As a team we have unfinished business against them, and we are looking to settle the score in their gym." Added Johnson.  "We have also been the number three seed out of the (OUA) West (division) for the last three seasons so a road playoff game is nothing new to us." 
 
However, despite the Lancers confidence of playing again in the gym where they captured one of their OUA bronze medals last season, they do acknowledge that Queen's does a good job of making the atmosphere a tough environment to play in. 
 
"It is always harder being the away team." Fourth-year middle blocker Dami Alalade said.  "We have to drive 6 hours to play in a massive gym with a massive home crowd, but I love it! Statistically speaking, we are a better team on the road than at home and love playing in (front of) large crowds.  It is a fun environment to play in and I am expecting Queen's to bring a lot of energy to game." 
 
For fourth-year setter Nolan Langley, he seems quite confident in his team's abilities of being able to rise to the occasion in the Queen's gymnasium as well. 
 
"I think we are quite comfortable playing in the ARC, it is a nice gym to play in and we have some experience in it from last year's Final Four." Langley noted. "We should not have a problem with the gym as long as we play our game and stick to what we do best." 
 
Sticking to the game plan seems to be what will be the most crucial aspect to their success on the road as they take on challenge of trying to dethrone the defending champions in their house.  A task that Johnson thinks the Lancers are up to. 
 
"We have to win the serve and pass battle." Johnson emphasized.  "It might be a cliché answer (especially to volleyball fans) but we talk about it before every game as a team.  If we can control that then the rest will come together." 
 
Coach Gravelle further elaborated on the importance of a strong serving performance against the Gaels.  "We will need to find a way to earn more points on our serve this time around."  Gravelle stated.  "Queen's was able to side-out at a high percentage when we played them last time and we need to change that." 
 
The team's quarterback in play caller Nolan Langley also believes that the blue and gold possesses a strong arsenal of offensive threats to counter an offence-heavy Gaels squad which makes for an interesting match-up heading into this weekend's game. 
 
"We match up pretty well against them." Langley said who went on to further explain the importance of his team's play throughout this season.  "In my opinion we have some of the strongest middles in the league so I think they will be a key part in winning the game. Our pins (outside hitters) are also strong and a big part of our game as well for passing and attacking but as always, everyone will play a big role to winning this game.  From the 6 players on the court to the rest of the guys (on the bench) and the coaching staff.  We are an extremely close-knit team and it takes everyone to get a win in this league." 
 
Team camaraderie for the blue and gold has been admirable and second to none this season as the Lancers have done a great job of establishing a healthy team culture that has allowed them to prosper over the past few seasons thanks in large part to the core group of veterans, as well as Coach Gravelle and his staff.  Fifth-year graduating senior and outside hitter Brad Gyemi states the key element for what draws out this team's success is one five-letter word: Trust. 
 
"Trust in oneself and his teammates has to be there down to the last guy in order to be successful in the playoffs." Gyemi asserted when asked to reflect on what he has learned from his previous playoff experiences over the past five seasons with the club.  "When the chips are on the table and all of the work that has been put in all season long, the time has come for us to just trust our talent and training.  In trusting myself I invite my teammates to trust in me, this must be present in each of us because I deeply trust every last guy on this team to perform when we need him.  We all love one another on this team. This is why we are so strong." 
 
Dami Alalade, a player currently amidst a career year individually, agreed with his elder teammate's sentiments.  "I trust my teammates like family and know that I can rely on them for anything on and off the court." Alalade added.  "We share a strong bond and that's why we have been able to pull each other out of tough situations in games all year long." 
 
For teams in the OUA post-season, trust is a key necessary component for success in chasing an OUA medal and a Forsyth Cup title and the Lancers have proven before that they are willing to put their trust in their teammates and bet on themselves all season long to do what it takes to find success and win together as a unit. 
 
In the OUA, having such talent depth on rosters is a luxury which helps lead successful programs to the promised land.  However, finding a team that gels as well together on and off the court and embraces a healthy team-oriented culture is a measure of sheer opulence and results in impeccable team chemistry and the epitome of true team success.  The Lancers will look to use their formidable team chemistry to their advantage with hopes of getting back to the OUA Final Four this season by first engaging in a quarter-final road battle against the OUA Forsyth Cup defending champion Queen's Gaels on Saturday February 29th.  The first serve will commence at 8 PM.  You can catch the first-round playoff action live from Kingston on OUA.tv and also be sure to follow along on our Twitter page @WindsorLancers for live updates covering the game. 
 
 
KNOW THE FACTS
*Totals from after all games played in the 2019-20 OUA regular season*
Queens                                                 Windsor
Kills Leader:                          #11 Adam Boljkovac (223)                 #7 Pierce Johnson (196)
Assists Leader:                     #6 Zane Grossinger            (605)      #4 Nolan Langley (542)
Digs Leader:                         #9 Lukas Kaufman (125)                   #4 Nolan Langley (108)
Blocks Leader:                     #14 Julian Krygel (42)                         #11 Dami Alalade (57)
Service Ace Leader:            #4 Erik Siksna (24)                              #8 Brad Gyemi (23)
Overall Points Leader:        #11 Adam Boljkovac (250)                 #7 Pierce Johnson (239)