Lakers drop match against Brock

North Bay, ON – Nipissing Lakers Women's Volleyball lost a tough match to the visiting Brock Badgers on Friday, January 9th at RJS Student Athletic Centre.  

The first set began with a 6-0 Lakers run before Brock called a timeout to halt Nipissing's momentum. Nipissing continued suit, taking a 10-3 lead courtesy of a Anna Marie Horvat kill.  

Brock would wake up and score, eventually cutting the lead to 16-11 in Nipissing's favour. The teams would trade points before a Ramanda Bell kill, Anna Marie Horvat service ace, and a big Nipissing block gave the Lakers a 22-15 lead.  

Brock would rally to 23-18, but another Bell kill and Brock service error gave the Lakers a 1-0 lead in the match. 

The second set started out much closer. The match saw a tie at 9 points before Oceane Raymond-Leduc's kill propelled Nipissing to win three points in a row to take a 12-9 lead. Brock would rally and bring the match to 14-13. Horvat provided another kill for Nipissing's 15th point of the match.  

The set remained close after this, seeing ties at 17, 18, 20, and 24. Brock won the crucial 25th point on a kill from Emily Forest, and the Badgers would close the set on the next point, winning 26-24 and tying the match at 1 set apiece. 

The third set began closely with either team trading points until Brock went on a run to lead 6-3. Nipissing would rally and tie the set at 10 on kills from Anna Marie Horvat and Elisabeth Spence. Brock would take 6 of the next 8 points, leading 17-13. Nipissing scored 3 in a row capitalizing on 3 Badger attack errors, and trail by a single point. Brock would answer with a 3 point run of their own and led 20-16. Brock would win 5 of the next 8 points to close the set 25-21 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.  

Brock jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth set before Ocean Raymond-Leduc got the Lakers on the board. Brock would lead 9-4 before Anna Marie Horvat and Raymond-Leduc would contribute key kills, getting the Lakers to within 2 points. The Lakers would win 7 of the next 9 points to lead 14-12. Ramanda Bell, Ocean Raymond-Leduc and Anna Marie Horvat all scored kills in this run for the Lakers. 

Brock responded, winning the next 4 points, before Nipissing took the lead again at 17-16.  

The set remained close, as Brock and Nipissing both looked poised to take the win. Ultimately, the Badgers won three straight points from 22-24 to seal the set, winning 25-23 and the match 3-1.  

Anna Marie Horvat had a big game for Nipissing, leading the Lakers with 15 kills. Bell also scored a service ace and contributed 9 digs. Ramanda Bell had 10 kills, 1 service ace, and 4 digs in the loss. Madeline Lamothe contributed 34 assists in the match, a team high. Ocean Raymond-Leduc had 10 kills, 2 assists, and 7 digs in the match.  

Women's Volleyball is back in action Saturday, January 10th at 2PM, once again facing the Brock Badgers. Catch the action live on OUA.tv.