By Nick Liard
It was a clean sweep on opening night for Loyalist Lancer volleyball teams.
Both the men’s and women’s teams made short work of their rivals, Trent Excalibur from Peterborough, winning 3-1.
The women’s team had the tougher task as Trent is a perennial powerhouse in the East and is coming off an 18-2 season.
The Lancers took the first set 25-21 and held a four-point lead for most of the set.
In the second set, the Excalibur picked it up and nearly took the set losing by two, 25-23. Throughout both sets the Lancers blocked a majority of the kill attempts.
“We work on blocking every practice, so that was our goal for this game, to achieve great blocking,” said first-year left side player, Jenny Richardson.
The third set was more of the same, a close, fast pace set with some amazing rallies. Trent won 26-24.
Trent looked to carry momentum into the next set but mistakes on serves killed them, as the match ended with the Lancers winning 25-23 in the fourth.
“It’s a tough place to play here at Loyalist,” said Excalibur coach Pete Carter. “I thought our girls played better as the game went on, but we have a lot to work on. We look forward to seeing Loyalist at our place next semester.”
The Lancers move to 1-0, a big win in the season opener.
“It was a bit of redemption, we usually play them well at home and Trent usually has a hard time with us so we are happy with this first win,” said Lancers coach Tony Clarke.
The men’s squad carried the performance of the women into their game as they too jumped all over the Excalibur early with a flurry of quick hits from setter Matt Woods, to middle Curtis Bucking.
They won the first two sets 25-18, 25-20.
The third set was a different story, as the Trent turned what looked like a three-game sweep by the Lancers into a contest. They had Loyalist on their heels, taking the set 25-19.
But Lancers coach Dave Templar calmed his guys down in the huddle.
“We told them what has happened has happened, and it doesn’t matter anymore,” said Templar. “I always try to teach our guys to not let the history dictate the future.”
It seemed to work as the men’s made quick work of the fourth set 25-10 and closed out the match.
Even though they won 3-1, Matt Woods knows they can learn from letting the third set slide.
“One thing we have to do is to stay positive,” said Woods. “We get down a lot of the time in matches. We get up and then we seem to go down again. We just need to work on staying up and keeping everybody positive.”
The men and women both host Durham this Wednesday starting at 6 p.m.