Tyler McKay | Assistant News Editor
Featured Image: The men’s team huddles before the opening set to Saturday’s match. | Courtesy of York Lions
The volleyball season has officially begun at York. Both the men’s and women’s teams hosted the Queen’s Gaels for their home openers at York on Saturday, October 26. The men won their first game three sets to one, while the women lost by the same margin.
The Lions held a strong lead in the first set, but the Gaels rallied back to come within two points of the Lions on a 10-1 run at 21-19. The Lions held strong and were able to finish the set 25-22.
The second set was evenly matched and the score was within one to five points the entire set with York maintaining a consistent lead from 6-5 on to claim the set.
In the third set, the Gaels came out swinging and climbed to a quick 10-3 lead. The Lions were able to bring it to within one point on a kill by Grant Lynch, but a kill by Julian Krygel claimed the set for the Gaels.
Once again the Lions held onto an early lead in the fourth set. The Lions were able to put the Gaels away in the fourth, 25-21 to claim a victory in their season- and home-opener.
Overall, it was a dominant showing for the men’s team, amassing a great score of 40 kills with only 15 errors, while the Gaels were 35 and 25. Leading for the Lions was rookie outside hitter Luke De Greeff recorded a team high 12 kills, while Adam Boljkovac lead in kills for the Gaels at 13. York’s Dan Everton recorded a game-high 31 assists.
Unfortunately, the result was not the same for the women in their game against Queen’s.
There were four lead changes early in the first set, but the Lions were unable to hold on and lost the set 25-21.
The Lions were on the brink in the second set. Down 25-24, an error by Queen’s tied the game up at 25. An ace by fifth-year Sarah Williams gave the Lions the lead, which they were able to hold onto to win the set 27-25.
Unfortunately, they were unable to hold onto that momentum and faced disappointing losses at 25-19 in the third set and 25-17 in the fourth set. York’s Kayla Clennon had a team high 10 kills with Queen’s Arielle Palermo at 11. Ciara Da Silva of the Lions assisted on 16 points, while the assist leaders for Queen’s was Shea Baker, who accumulated 27.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will be back in action today Wednesday, October 30 in the Tait McKenzie Centre when they host the Ryerson Rams. The men will play at 6 p.m. followed by the women at 8 p.m.
