The Nipissing Lakers men’s volleyball team is looking to make a quick jump up the OUA standings, beginning Friday night at home.
The Lakers hosted the Guelph Gryphons in the first of a pair of matches this weekend at the Robert J. Surtees Athletic Centre.
After going up 2-0, the Lakers managed to grab a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Gryphons to begin the second half of the campaign.
To open the match, Nipissing grabbed an early 13-11 lead, but couldn’t hold on as the Gryphons tied the game at 21-21.
Nipissing pulled away late, claiming the set 25-22.
In the second, the Lakers were slow out of the gates, trailing 8-4 early on.
They rebounded quickly and led 17-16 midway through the game and kept the Gryphons in the rearview mirror, leading 23-20.
The Lakers capped things off, winning 25-21 to go up 2-0 in the match.
With a sweep on the line, Guelph pushed back, building up a 15-14 lead midway through the third.
Nipissing kept things close, trailing by just one, 20-19, late in the game.
The Lakers managed to come all the way back, tying the game 23-23 late, with a chance to close things out.
It took extra time, but the Gryphons escaped with the win, coming out on top by a final of 28-26 to force a fifth set.
In the final set, the teams traded points, with each team grabbing the advantage and looking to claim the match.
In the end, a comeback win, erasing an 11-9 deficit to claim the 16-14 win, gave the Lakers the match.
Justice Smith led the way with 18 kills, Jimmy Gill and Taydon Shantz each had 12 kills for the Lakers, while Ben Franz added 11 in the victory.
The same teams are back on the court Saturday afternoon at 4pm.