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The University of Windsor Lancers men’s volleyball team has been sidelined by COVID-19.
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The school announced on Tuesday that the team’s home-and-home matches against the Western Mustangs, which were scheduled for Friday and Sunday, have been canceled due to COVID-19 protocols involving the Lancers.
“We’re in COVID protocols and unable to field eight healthy athletes,” Lancers’ athletic director Mikey Havey said. So, the games are cancelled. It’s disappointing, for sure, for everyone involved.”
The Lancers scored a three-game sweep of the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday at Fairall Fieldhouse with the first positive test coming on Sunday.
“We’ve notified the opponent from Saturday,” Havey said.
Ontario updated its public health measures in January where vaccinated individuals are only required to isolate for five days following the onset of symptoms.
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Each OUA school can set its policy based on those measures and the University of Windsor has opted to keep isolation for 10 days.
“Ours is 10 days and that as a result of conversation with our health and safety team and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit,” Havey said.
While the men’s volleyball team is the school’s first program to have games called off due to COVID-19, it’s not the first cancellations for the OUA since action summarized on Feb. 11.
“There have been cancellations within our league,” Lancer men’s head volleyball coach James Gravelle said. “It’s something we’ve seen and there have been multiples.”
School officials would not disclose the number of cases the team is dealing with, but the club has a 20-man roster and is unable to dress the minimum eight players required to compete, which means it is more than a dozen.
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“I was hoping it wouldn’t touch any of us, but it’s not shocking considering how contagious this is,” Gravelle said.
According to OUA rules, all players must be double vaccinated and Havey said the breakthrough cases have come with players that have also been boosted.
“Every sports league in the world that has attempted to comeback has had deals with interruptions and cancellations,” Havey said.
The Lancers sit fourth in the West Division with a 3-5 record and the back-to-back matches with third-place Western, which is 4-4, presented an opportunity to move up in the standings.
There is no time to reschedule the games and the hope is the club can return to practice on March 2 in time to close out the season on the road against McMaster on March 5 and Guelph on March 6.
Final placing will be decided by winning percentage and if the Lancers remain in fourth place, the club will have to face the fifth-place team to advance into the quarter-finals.
“It’s part of the challenge,” Gravelle said. “Before coming back on Feb. 11th, our previous game was Nov. 20th. We don’t have a great base of training, no one does, and a 10-day break before the playoffs is a big challenge, but it’s out of our control and we’ll do whatever we can to prepare for the last two games .”
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