The Windsor Lancers men's volleyball team traveled to Toronto for a Sunday afternoon matinee against the Toronto Varsity Blues. The highly anticipated matchup did not fail to meet fans' expectations as both teams played superb performance. Although the Lancers dropped a 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-15, & 15-12) it was arguably their best game play as a team to date and most competitive match by far this season notwithstanding their other five-set thrillers they have previously had. 
 
GAME STATS
The blue and gold were led by captain Pierce Johnson for a second straight night who had 18 kills and 2 service aces producing the most offense off of Nolan Langley's season high 52 assists.
 
Other Lancer players who starred in the match were Sean Spencer and Brad Gyemi who had 11 kills each respectively. Gyemi also pitched in from the service line with two aces to add to his impressive afternoon play. Dami Alalade also played a major role for the blue and gold once again coming in clutch when need be and providing the steady serves and blocks for the Lancers throughout the game. Statistically speaking, Alalade had 9 kills tonight and was a part of 4 big blocks on the floor for the Lancers. 
 
Lastly, defensively rookie libero Steven Abrams had a great outing with 14 digs giving his team a chance to win every step of the way in this contest. 
 
GAME FLOW
In the first set, the Varsity Blues held the momentum opening up a huge point spread gap from the service line. Once the Lancers sided out however is when things started to go back and forth. However, the Blues seemed to be in control for most of the set having earned 16 points first when the technical timeout was reached until the Lancers managed to steal the lead later on in the set. Despite the blue and gold tying things up late at a score of 23 all, the Blues went on ahead and made no mistakes to finish off the first set with a 25-23 victory and go up 1-0 in the match. 
 
In the second, the Lancers held their own making sure they were not planning on going down easy in "The Six". The blue and gold managed to hold their own throughout the set with their strong play which allowed them to execute their plan of tying the match up at one set apiece and extend the match to at least an extra set. The Lancers delivered on strong execution and were able to win the second set by a score of 25-18 and achieve their objective of knotting up the game at 1-1 and force at least a fourth set. 
 
It was another back and forth momentum swaying set in the third as both teams continued to live up to the hype of this match up expected coming into this game. With both teams nearly mirroring each other's play, the Lancers continued to apply the pressure and stay with the Blues throughout however it was ultimately the Blues who held the energy on their side of the court and were able to pump out a 25-22 set three win to go up 2-1 in the match and push Windsor to the brink of losing this one in four. 
 
In the fourth set, the Lancers were up for the task at hand and the challenge that the Blues threw their way.  The blue and gold again managed to obtain control and gain momentum that had been exchanged generously throughout the match and elevate their level of play throughout the set. The blue and gold held firm control throughout the set and ultimately with strong consistent play were able to take it by a score of 25-15 which was the biggest margin of the game and force a fifth and final deciding set in front of a raucous split crowd at the Goldring Centre. 
 
The fifth set was an all or nothing occasion with both teams expected to be legitimate contenders come playoff time as both squads were seeking bragging rights during their one and only official meeting of the season. In a set that was a see-saw tilt tug-a-war with multiple substitutions and points exchanged throughout the set. It made for an exciting finish for the fans in attendance for the afternoon marquee matchup. After literally coming down to the wire, the Toronto Varsity Blues were able to pull off a major home win which sparked pandemonium by the Blues fans in the Kimel Family Fieldhouse court located inside the Goldring Centre. 
 
The win for Toronto gives them a ton of confidence to add to an already successful regular season campaign thus far this season going forward. The loss for Windsor is although a bit of sting a great game to remember come playoff time to accelerate their play despite a solid effort put forth in the match by the blue and gold throughout.
 
It is quite likely that both of these teams may have a future date to meet one another again with the post-season looming in a few weeks but nonetheless a loss like this for blue and gold will only motivate them further in battling the necessary learning woes and adversity to continue building a stronger OUA contending team and National Champion qualifier seeker for the first time since 2018. 
 
 
UP NEXT
The Lancers will now head home and will prepare to take on the Western Mustangs on Saturday afternoon, February 8th from the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse located inside the St. Denis Centre.  First serve is scheduled for 2:00pm following the women's game at noon.
 
The day is also the Lancers annual Breast Cancer Awareness Day and they will once again be selling commemorative t-shirts and accepting donations to help raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research.