In a rare Thursday night contest, the Lancer women's volleyball team hosted the McMaster Marauders at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse. Windsor showed tremendous promise throughout the match, but fell to the visitors 3-1 (25-20, 17-25, 16-25, 23-25).
 
The blue and gold are now 1-5 on the season and sit in fifth place in the OUA west division, while the Marauders improve to 6-2 and are one game ahead of the Western Mustangs in second place. 
 
STATS
Emma Shepherd led the blue and gold with nine kills and 12 digs. Joey Hewick led the team defensively with 21 digs.
 
The Marauders were led by Jessie Nairn with 15 points, and Emma McKInnon and Sullie Sundara with 12 kills each.
 
GAME FLOW
It was a tight back and forth battle to start the game. Windsor built a 12-8 lead before the Marauders regrouped in a timeout and came back to tie the game again at 15-15. The Lancers went into the technical leading by one, and behind the solid play of Emma Shephard who had five kills in the set, held the lead until the end, taking the set with a solid 25-20 set score.
 
McMaster led early in the second but the blue and gold worked hard to keep it close. With the Marauders leading 16-12 at technical, Windsor came out of the break on fire, tying the game at 16 and forcing their opponents into a timeout. The short break refocused the visitors who went on a seven-point run, and eventually closed out the set 25-17.
 
Windsor came out strong in the third but were unable to maintain the momentum that carried them through the first two sets. Minor mistakes proved costly, and the Marauders used them to their advantage on their way to a 25-16 win.
 
The Marauders continued to dominate the fourth set, going on a 11-2 run to open the set. Down 14-5, Windsor's Sam Loshushan served five straight points to energize the blue and gold and get the Lancers back in the game. Windsor looked like the strong cohesive unit from the first set and went on an 13-5 run to tie the game at 19. The teams again traded points late into the set until a few minor errors led to a 25-23 win for McMaster.
 
UP NEXT
Windsor returns to the court on Saturday, February 19th when they host the Waterloo Warriors on Breast Cancer Awareness Day. Game time is scheduled at 2:00pm and tickets can be purchased in advance at goLancers.ca/tickets.