Riding a three-game winning streak, the York Lions took on the nationally ranked Western Mustangs in men’s volleyball action at the Tait MacKenzie Centre on November 3. The Lions came into the game having won four of their first five games of the season, but failed to match the Mustangs compete level on every point, eventually leading to a hard-fought 3-1 win for the visitors.
The Mustangs are coming off an impressive year — in 2012/2013, they fell just one game short of competing for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport gold medal, losing in straight sets to the McMaster Marauders in the CIS semi-finals. Western entered this season once again as one of the top contenders in all of Canada, giving the Lions a solid measuring stick for their early success so far this season.
“You have got to give Western a lot of credit,” says Lions’ Head Coach Rob Dyba. “They are a tough team to play against, and if you look at the scores in the sets, we lost by just three or four points, and on those three or four points, we forgot one assignment. So it’s one assignment that they score on, and they get that steal.”
Dyba says overall, he is happy with the team’s performance, aside from a few plays when they weren’t engaged.
Both teams went back and forth in the first game feeling each other out, with some crucially timed mistakes by York, like service errors, swaying the momentum in Western’s direction. The Mustangs slowly built up their lead, going on a few two and three-point runs throughout the set that ultimately buried the Lions under their own mistakes. With a sense of urgency to get it behind them, the Mustangs overpowered York late in the set, winning 25-20.
The Mustangs continued to pressure York in the second set with their precise defense and high-flying offence, jumping out to a quick 7-3 lead. It was not until the middle of the set that the Lions came to life, Ray Szeto punishing his opponents with two massive spikes to vault his team ahead 16-14. The rest of the set featured some gritty plays on both sides of the court, but York was able to hold off a late surge to tie the game at one set apiece.
The third set proved to be the toughest of them all as both teams wanted to ensure they had the upper hand going into the fourth set. The Lions were able to turn up the heat on their opponents with some timely blocks, but once again the Mustangs took no plays off, slowly stealing the set away from the Lions. The Mustangs were able to maintain a six-point cushion down the stretch to preserve a 25-19 win, giving them all the momentum with a one-set lead going into the fourth.
The Lions would be battling from behind the eight ball the rest of the game, with Western consistently frustrating them with multiple blocks during rallies and impressive digs to keep plays alive. Western built a decisive 18-11 lead and never looked back, fending off a late, desperate push by the Lions to win the set 25-20.
Although York could not walk away from the court with a win, there were some positive signs to take away from the game. Ray Szeto finished with a game high of 21 kills while teammate Nicolas Pirnat led all players with 15 digs. The main takeaway from this game however will be the experience of competing against one of the nation’s best, says Dyba.
“They beat us by being in every single rally. In terms of practice, this week we won’t do anything different — it will just be a talking point. Anytime practice is getting sloppy, we can call them in and say, ‘Look guys, we aren’t going to make it to the OUA finals if this is the type of behaviour we have.’”
The loss is a tough one to swallow right now, but may prove to be invaluable experience come year’s end. If the Lions want to be the best, they must compete with the best, and at the very least, they’ve proved they can hang with the big boys.
York looks to get back on track this weekend in Kingston with a couple road match-ups against the Queens Gaels and the RMC Paladins.
Ryan McCabe
Sports and Health Editor
