By Andrew Papadopoulos
 
The Windsor Lancer men's volleyball team are getting set to take on some of the best Canadian university-level varsity volleyball squads from across the country in the 2023 U SPORTS national championships at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
 
The blue and gold officially secured their place for the event back on March 4th with their semi-final victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues at the Toldo Lancer Centre. 


Now since then, the OUA bronze medalist Varsity Blues, silver medalist Lancers, and OUA gold medalists and reigning provincial champion McMaster Marauders, who are also the event's hosts, will represent the OUA's finest in three out of the eight competing teams this weekend in the season finale quest for national pride and pursuit of the prestigious Tantramar Trophy awarded to the national champions and best team in all of U SPORTS men's volleyball each year. 
 
Other teams that will be competing in the event include the Alberta Golden Bears, who are ranked first coming into the tournament after winning the Canada West conference, Trinity Western Spartans, Montréal Carabins, Saskatchewan Huskies and the Sherbrooke Vert & Or who the Lancers will take on first on Friday afternoon at 3PM EST.
 
The Vert & Or are ranked 4th after capturing the RSEQ championship in Québec while the 5th ranked Lancers who were the OUA runners-up after completing their most successful season in the program history to date are looking to do battle in the 4 vs 5 marquee matchup that will take place on St. Patrick's Day. 
 
Luck inside the Burridge Gymnasium may need to be on the side of the Lancers on Friday who come in as the underdogs based on their preliminary seeding rank. 
 
However, head coach James Gravelle seems confident with the team's game plan going into their first test against Sherbrooke and believes they can make it to the other side of the rainbow without luck per se where the pot of gold lies with the pot of gold prize being in this case a semi-final berth for Saturday's to be determined match up which will be based solely on Friday's pivotal outcome. 
 
"We are looking forward to Friday's match and the overall opportunity to represent our school and our conference at the national championship tournament." Gravelle stated with pride regarding what it means to lead his team back to nationals for the first time since 2018 when the tournament was coincidentally also held in Hamilton then as well.
 
"We will be playing a very strong Sherbrooke team in the first round and will need to play our best.  We plan to bring our strong service pressure to help slow down their offense and will look to build momentum for our side."
 
This is not only Gravelle's second time back at nationals in Hamilton for the first time in five years.  Veteran Lancer setter and OUA first-team all-star Anthony DeGirolamo also returns to the nation's best post-secondary volleyball tournament for the first time since his rookie season in 2018 when he was then named to the OUA's all-rookie team that season. 
 
For DeGirolamo, going full circle means a lot to him personally in his final time getting to rock the blue and gold uniform as a player, especially on the biggest stage with his team that is fresh off their deepest post-season run to date.
 
"It's an amazing feeling for me personally knowing that I get to play until the very end in my last season." DeGirolamo stated who is in his fifth year of eligibility and final season with the Lancers. 
 
"The fact that it's taken us this long to get back shows how difficult it is, and no one is taking that for granted.  Some of the guys have asked me questions about what it was like last time but mostly off-the-court stuff surrounding the event's ambience. As for the on-the-court stuff everyone here knows what to do when the whistle blows though."
 
DeGirolamo, who is of course the longest-serving member of the current squad, has been undoubtably one of the instrumental in setting up the team's success this year and has been a large piece of the puzzle this season for the blue and gold's comprised core. 
 
A team with monsterful depth across the board in outside hitters, middle blockers, setters, and liberos.  Other notable talents with perennial consistent game changing performances this year have come from key pieces such as Zach Albert, Luca Nastase, Steven Abrams, Chase Bridges-Hunter, Anthony Ivanovski, and Gustavo Siqueira who have all ultimately contributed greatly to the team's season and recent playoff run in helping to propel the team's return to nationals with those players excelling efforts put forth all-yearlong throughout. 
 
However, it should certainly not be overlooked or discounted as to how the entire team as a whole has helped bolster the squad's play in practice and game play to optimal success and newly reached heights this season through determination, hard work, resiliency, and dedication on the court and off the court.
 
Siqueira, an outside hitter, who is in his second year with the team after joining the Lancers last season is excited to compete for the first time at U SPORTS Nationals and that this has been a primary objective on his radar since leaving his home continent of South America for travelling to North America and committing to come play volleyball in Canada with the Lancers and coming all the way from São Paulo, Brazil last year.
 
"For me personally, I'm really happy for the team and the experience that we can take from playing the best teams in the country."  Siqueira said who is one of two international players featured on the Lancers roster this season with the other being middle blocker Bridges-Hunter, a sophomore and native of Kamuela, Hawaii, USA. 
 
"What I am really excited to see is how different from a tactical perspective, seeing how the teams from other provinces play."
 
Siqueira also emphasized what the team's mindset will be heading into the tournament with knowing the strategy that the team will need to implement in order to be successful and play on further throughout this weekend to maximize the experience.
 
"Our mindset is to play like we have been playing this season and was bringing us results." Siqueira added who was one of four Lancers named to an OUA all-star squad earlier this month after having been named to the OUA all-rookie team in 2022. 
 
"I can feel that the group is focused on performing and showing that our program deserves to be around the bests in the country."
 
That is the focus and collective goal this weekend for the Lancers who will look to showcase their best volleyball in the gym that they lost a week ago to the Marauders. 
 
However, now heading back with a clean slate going into this weekend and a refreshed mindset on the horizon, the blue and gold are looking forward to seizing the opportunity to play some more mid-March volleyball in front of volleyball fanatics travelling and tuning in from coast to coast to take in the action live or remotely. 
 
Windsor's first serve is scheduled for Friday, March 17th at 3:00pm against the Vert & Or. Lancer fans can follow the team throughout the weekend with social media updates on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The Lancer family can also stream the action inside the Burridge Gymnasium from the David Braley Athletic Centre in Hamilton on https://usports.ca/en/broadcast or on CBC Sports and CBC YouTube pages. 
 
For more information regarding the 2023 U SPORTS nationals tournament you can visit the link here https://usports.ca/en/championships/volleyball/m/info which includes further information regarding the team's schedule and more event info surrounding the event.