Reverse sweep complete: Badgers defeat Lakers in five-set thriller

The Badgers never quit and came away with a hard-fought reverse sweep victory. 

Those who stayed at Bob Davis Gymnasium on Friday, Feb. 14 were treated to a thrilling win by the Brock Badgers men’s volleyball team who toppled the Nipissing Lakers in five sets (20-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-13). 

The Badgers on this night were led by the trio of Kylar Code, Devin Cooney and Nanle Yusuf who each recorded 17 kills. Cooney delivered a game-high 21 points as he added two service aces and two blocks.  

With the win, the Badgers keep themselves mathematically alive in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoff race and need some help tomorrow from other matches from across the league.

A 6-1 run to start the match for the visiting Lakers helped give them momentum as they kept that five-point advantage all the way to a 25-20 victory in the first set. 

The Lakers slowly chipped away at the Badgers’ early 13-10 advantage and took the second set with a large run of their own to win 25-22. 

Cooney helped power the Badgers to a 6-1 run to start the third frame as he delivered two kills and two service aces in that span. As the set continued, Cooney continued to heat up as he notched four more kills while Code recorded five of his own as the Badgers took the third set 25-20. 

Brock continued their momentum from the previous set by doubling up the visitors early 8-4. Code and Cooney continued their strong attacking as they each notched five kills in the frame en route to a 25-22 victory. 

Jumping out to a slim 8-7 margin, the Badgers held the advantage at the crossover. Nanle Yusuf stepped up in a major way from that point on, getting a key kill to make it 14-11 and eventually the winning point off the Nipissing block to help the Badgers win a thriller 15-13. 

Adam Shapcott distributed a game-high 41 assists, while Adrian Gaspar recorded a match-high 16 digs.

A .201 hitting percentage from the Badgers gave them the advantage over the visitors who only mustered a .143.  

Next, the Badgers return back to Bob Davis Gymnasium on Saturday, Feb. 15 for Senior Night against this same Nipissing Lakers squad. First serve is set for 5 p.m. Get your tickets at University Tickets and watch the game at OUA.tv.