The Nipissing Lady Lakers volleyball team will be back in familiar territory at the OCAA championship tournament, but the road travelled will be a bit different this year.
The Lady Lakers (14-4), seeded No. 3 in the OCAA’s East region, knocked off the sixth-seeded Loyalist Lancers (12-8) in a sudden-death crossover match at the Surtees Athletics Centre gymnasium Sunday, clinching a spot in the eight-team provincial championship this week at Durham College in Ottawa.
Nipissing swept Loyalist 3-0 (25-15, 25-11, 25-15).
All 13 players on the Lady Lakers’ roster saw some floor time, as Lucia Demarco led the attack with 11 kills and 17 points and was named player of the game. Brittany Ardron had 14 points and Becca Ramsay added nine.
Defensively, Tressa Vancoillie had nine digs, while Cori Toshack and Demarco each had eight.
Jenny Richardson led Loyalist with nine points.
For the past six years, the Lady Lakers have been seeded either No. 1 or No. 2 in the OCAA and have met the Humber Hawks in the OCAA gold-medal game, winning in 2007.
However, Nipissing has stumbled a bit since the holiday break, with head coach Marc Larochelle trying to stress the importance of team play over individual performances.
‘We have a very strong team with a lot of depth, so sometimes we overmatch teams pretty well and it’s difficult for players to understand that different teams require different matchups,” he said Sunday. “It took a little while to wrap our heads around that, but I think over the last few weeks, we’ve had some good meetings and come to an understanding that we do this as a team. Whether you’re on the floor or on the bench, it doesn’t mean your contribution is any less.
“And today, we responded really well — the passion and the intensity was there.”
The OCAA championship tournament opens Thursday, with the No. 3 Lakers facing the East’s No. 2 Algonquin in their opening match.
Should they get through that, the Lakers would face No. 1 Humber in the semifinal, instead of facing them in the gold-medal game for the seventh straight year.
“For us, the pressure is off in a sense,” Larochelle said. “We’re not coming in as a top seed and Humber has to fulfill their expectations as No. 1. Our goal is to get by Thursday and then you have to beat the best to be the best, regardless of when it is. That’s the kind of attitude we’ll take.”
In two regular-season matches this year, the Lady Lakers lost both in five sets. They were up 2-0 at Humber Nov. 13 before dropping three straight, then were up 2-1 at Nipissing last month, dropping the fifth set 16-14. The Lady Lakers also beat Humber during a holiday tournament in Florida.
“I think the potential on this team is tremendous,” Larochelle said. “It’s going to come down to execution on the date.”
Men Prepare
The Nipissing Lakers men’s team is preparing for their own OCAA championship this week, which will be held at home at the Surtees Centre.
Seven teams from throughout the province begin arriving Wednesday for practice, with a tournament banquet Thursday morning.
The Lakers, seeded No. 2 in the East, will play their first match Thursday at 6 p.m.