Arslan Ahmed | Sports Editor
Featured image: The women dropped their quarterfinal game against rival Mac. | Courtesy of York Lions
York versus Mac looked to be a challenging matchup for the Lions women’s volleyball team, as they are the same team that eliminated York from the Quigley Cup last year.
York was eliminated in straight sets, and had no answer for the Marauders offense. With the same opponent in sight this year, Lions fans hoped that familiarity would lead to a victory. However, McMaster proved to be too much for York once again.
The Lions started the game out flat, allowing the Marauders to jump to a 10-5 lead. After digging themselves into a hole, the Lions could not find a way to rally, and the Marauders kept adding on to their lead. For every point York scored, the Marauders answered back with one or two more.
The slow start hounded the Lions, as they were limited to 16 points and allowed McMaster to escape with the opening set by a score of 25-16.
After a disappointing first set, York came out with more firepower in the second. The women were quick to pounce on the Marauders and jumped out to an 8-2 lead. However, McMaster displayed its resiliency with an 8-2 run of their own, and tied the game at 10.
From this point forward, the teams exchanged points. Then, with the score tied at 18, McMaster turned up the pressure, as they went on a 7-3 run taking the set by a score of 25-21.
Facing the brink of elimination, the Lions put up a mighty fight in the third. After McMaster jumped to a 11-3 lead, the Lions rallied. With superb play from Tara Leithead, Hailey Kranics, and Heather Setka, the Lions went on a 16-8 run and evened the score 19.
However, that was all the Lions had left in the tank, as York only managed to score one more point, and McMaster escaped with the set by a score of 25-20.
With the loss, the Lions were eliminated at the hands of the Marauders in the Quigley Cup Quarterfinals for the second consecutive season.
Despite the loss, the women competed with passion and displayed great poise throughout the season. A quarterfinals appearance in two years adds to the experience and maturity of the team, and builds on the already enormous Lion pride.
Lions fans should have a lot of optimism for the 2018-2019 season.
This past week, the York men (12-6) took on Windsor (10-7) in the first round of the Forsythe Cup playoffs.
During the regular season, these two teams met once in a game York won three sets to two.
The first set shaped up to be an intense one. With both teams exchanging blows throughout the set, the Lancers pulled ahead and took a 19-15 lead. Playing from behind, York began to rally and tied the score at 24 a piece.
With the set going into extra points, Windsor could not take advantage of a 25-24 lead and York received a point on a service error to tie the game. York would use this momentum to push ahead and snatch the opening set in extra points, by a score of 28-26.
After winning the first set, York came out completely flat in the second. Windsor played with urgency and ran up the score to gain a 16-7 lead. Windsor continued to attack and dominate the set, en route to the 25-13 victory.
The third set was very much like the first; every Windsor point was countered with a York point. With the score approaching 25, both teams were deadlocked at 23.
However, Windsor refused to go into extra points, as they gained two straight kills to win the set by a score of 25-23.
Facing elimination, York played well to start the fourth set.
However, with the score tied at 8, Windsor put together a 10-3 run and gained a comfortable 18-11 lead. Despite a late run by York, Windsor proved to be too much for the Lions ,as they won the final set 25-21.
Notable players from the game were Windsor’s Pierce Johnson with 15 kills. Logan Mend of York filled the stat sheet and played exceptionally well, recording 4 blocks, 6 digs, and 3 saves.
The defeat to Windsor marks the third straight season where the York men’s team has been eliminated in the quarter-finals.
On a positive note, they have made the playoffs three years in a row, and fans should expect similar success next season.
