The Lancer women's volleyball team was back in action again on Friday and Saturday against the Toronto Varsity Blues at the Toldo Lancer Centre for their final home games of the 2024 calendar year.
On Friday the Lancers defeated the Varsity Blues for the first time since 2011 with a 3-1 (25-18, 27-25, 20-25, and 25-23) win in Windsor while on Saturday the blue and gold dropped a 3-0 (20-25, 19-25, and 17-25) sweep to the visiting Varsity Blues.
WEEKEND STATS
Aliah Admans had 24 kills and 2 service aces in the victory on Friday night while
Aryn Markett also had a great offensive outing with her 13 kills and 1 service ace.
Defensively
Maja Susa had a whopping 16 digs while
Danika Scharff also dug up 13 balls and dished out 40 assists as the Lancers setter also recorded a service ace in the victory.
At the net,
Jordyn Brearley had a monster 6 block performance while
Marlee Horton also contributed with her hands stopping 4 balls recording 4 solo blocks of her own.
Meanwhile on Saturday, Admans had 9 kills in the loss while Brearley had 7 of her own.
Scharff recorded two service aces, 24 assists and led the team in digs with 11 as a game high for both sides.
FRIDAY GAME FLOW
Toronto appeared to be the team in control throughout a great deal of the opening set as the visitors were able to stay consistent and earn a 25-18 first set win and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Lancers would respond in the second set jumping out of the gate with a 3-0 lead and continuing to build up momentum as the set continued.
However, the Varsity Blues matched the intensity that the Lancers brought and were engaged in tight tug-a-war tilt that eventually progressed into extra points being necessary where the Lancers were able to ultimately close out with a two-point fight to the finish was achieved at 27-25 to even up the match at 1-1.
Fresh off earning the second set, Windsor was able to pick up on the buzz they had picked up in the second and bring it into the third set where they found themselves in control through most of the set and were able to coast to a 25-20 win to go up 2-1 in the match with strong play on their side of the court challenging the Varsity Blues.
Both teams fought hard to begin the fourth set, neither allowing for a large gap to open up on the scoreboard early on before the midway mark when Windsor started picking up steam again. But Toronto would not go down easily looking to extend the match to a fifth set they met the Lancers at 22-22.
The Lancers locked in and found a way out of their timeout to reset and focus on earning a tying point and match point which forced Toronto to use their last timeout. Out of the final timeout Windsor would get the better end of a rally to earn the third set 25-23 and a 3-1 match victory over the Varsity Blues for the first time in 13 years.
SATURDAY GAME FLOW
The first set started steady between both sides as each team traded points and leads throughout before Toronto started to bust open a gap toward the midway mark of the set.
The Lancers were able to nip at the Blues down the stretch after battling back from a seven-point deficit but in the end, Toronto would take the first set 25-20.
With a 1-0 lead, the Varsity Blues found themselves still being tested by the Lancers in the early stages of the second set before Toronto's consistent attacking helped take them up a notch above Windsor toward the middle and later portion of the set to earn the second 25-19 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Another back and forth battle ensued to kick off the third set but Toronto would burst the Lancers bubble for wanting to come back into the contest jumping out to a 22-11 lead up on the hosts and on the verge of sweeping the Lancers as they were able to convincingly round out the third set despite a few more points accumulated by the Lancers down the stretch with a 25-17 third set win and 3-0 match victory.
UP NEXT
The Lancers will now head up to Peterborough to take on the Trent Excalibur on Friday November 22nd at 6:00pm and Saturday November 23rd at 2:00pm for their final games of the fall semester and 2024 calendar portion of the 2024-25 season schedule.
Volleyball fans can watch the action live streaming on OUA.Tv for the upcoming road action on those days. The Lancers will not be back in action at home until the new year.
