WINDSOR, Ont. - The Waterloo Warriors came into Friday night's OUA quarterfinals as underdogs against the #3 Windsor Lancers, but they looked like anything but through most of the four-set match, taking an early lead and coming within a point of sending the game to a fifth set.
In the end, the OUA top-seeded Lancers were able to prevail on home court against the eighth seed Warriors, bringing an end to Waterloo's season.
Both teams came out swinging, with neither side playing it safe on service or attack. This led to a first set with more than a few errors, and neither team able to put together any significant runs until 14-11 for Windsor.
From there, it was all black and gold. A Kaden Reid service error put the ball in the hands of Owen Paddock Thiessen (Brandon, Man./Vincent Massey High School), and he'd hang on to it for eight straight points including an ace. It was Ried who finally halted the run with a kill, but the Warriors were rolling by now. Setter Cohen Peters (Vancouver, B.C./Pacific Acadamy) led the final stretch with an ace, a kill, and two assists including the set-winner, finished off by Paddock Thiessen for a 25-21 first set win.
The teams switched sides for the second set, but the court stayed tilted in the same direction, with the Lancers taking firm control early and never letting go. Waterloo never managed consecutive points in the set, and struggled on attack, with their hitting percentage dipping into the negatives. Windsor, meanwhile, had their strongest set statistically, with 11 kills and just one attacking error. It went down as a 25-13 win to tie the match.
The Warriors again struggled to keep their serve but sided out much better in the third set, and neither team strung three straight points together until the final four serves, which all went the Lancer's way for a 25-19 win.
The fourth set was the opposite. Windsor charged out to a 6-2 lead, then Waterloo came storming back with a 6-1 run to take an 11-10 lead. They'd maintain the advantage all the way to set point, and were attacking with confidence, racking up 14 kills and only two attacking errors. Peters was connected multiple times with Paddock Thiessen, Lucas Redmann (Winnipeg, Man./Dakota Collegiate), AJ Nichols (Aurora, Ont./St. Andrew's College), and Daniel Nikashov (Vaughan, Ont./Hodan Nalayeh Secondary School).
With the score 24-23 and a chance to win it, Redmann's serve went long. Markus Law-Heese's kill made it set point Lancers, and Gustavo Siqueira's fifth ace of the night was the final blow.
It's the second straight season the Warriors have lost in the opening round of the OUA playoffs to Windsor, though Friday saw a much more evenly matched game between the black and gold and the defending Forsyth Cup finalists than a year ago.
It marks the end of a season that included an impressive win over second-place Toronto that began a five-game winning streak spanning the holiday break. Just one win after the first weekend of January dropped them into the eight seed, setting up a tough first round matchup with the Lancers.
Windsor will host the Western Mustangs in next weekend's OUA semifinal. Regardless of the result of that game, they'll play in the 2026 U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship as the host team.
It was the final game in black and gold for seniors Fehin Awobodu (Oakville, Ont./Hillfield Strathallan College Men's Volleyball Team), Kai Abdool (Oakville, Ont./St. Ignatius of Loyola), AJ Nichols (Aurora, Ont./St. Andrew's College), and Owen Paddock Thiessen (Brandon, Man./Vincent Massey High School). Paddock Thiessen, especially, left it all out on the court, with nine kills including the first set winner, an ace, and a block for 10.5 points.
