In front of a packed house on Friday night, the Redeemer Royals men's volleyball team defeated the Nipissing Lakers in a thrilling 5 set match. The Royals played comeback all night as they fell down 1-0 and 2-1 but continued to battle and finally edged out the Lakers 3-2.

Redeemer lost the first game 25-15, won the second 25-22, lost the third 25-15, won the fourth 25-22, and won the fifth 15-10.

It was a highly anticipated match as there were many story lines coming into the game. Redeemer stood alone as the only team to have defeated Nipissing so far this season when they won 3-1 in North Bay on November 17th. At that time, the Lakers had just been named as the #1 ranked team in Canada.  However, they held the top spot for only 1 week as a result of the loss to the Royals. The Lakers were no doubt looking for revenge tonight as they were just recently reappointed as the top team in Canada again after winning a competitive tournament in Quebec over the Christmas Break. However, once again the Royals proved that they belong among the elite defeating the top team in Canada for the second time this season.

Redeemer's Eric Heidbuurt (Waterdown, ON) led the team with 15 total points. Heidbuurt had 11 kills, 2 aces, and 2 blocks. Calvin Fast (St. Catherines, ON) and David Klomps (Surrey, BC) each added 9 points. Jesse Dykxhoorn (Holland Marsh, ON) had a team-high 15 digs.

Andre Leblanc led all scorers with 18 points for Nipissing.

With the win tonight, Redeemer sweeps the season series with Nipissing and hands them their second loss of 2012-2013.

Redeemer entered the match ranked #6 in Canada. The CCAA National Rankings are released every Tuesday and the anticipation will grow to see where the Royals sit after tonight's victory.

Nipissing's volleyball teams are competing in their final seasons in the OCAA as they will be making the switch to the OUA in 2013-2014.

The Royals now run their win streak to 7 games and improve their record to 8-2. They currently sit tied for 1st place in the OCAA West Division.

The women's team fell to Nipissing in the first match of the evening 3-1. Scores were 25-12, 18-25, 25-9, 27-25.

The Men's and Women's teams are back in action tomorrow as they face Canadore College at 2pm and 4pm.