Emily Goodwin | Editor-in-Chief
Featured Image: Chiara Da Silva serves during the Lions last home game on November 15. | Courtesy of Jojo Yanjiao Qian/York Lions
The Lions women’s and men’s volleyball teams made the long trek to North Bay this past Sunday to take on the Nippissing Lakers.
The women’s team took the win, defeating the Lakers 3-1. After the Lakers claimed the first set, the Lions rallied to take the next three sets.
Set two saw the Lions immediately take the lead, earning four points before the Lakers could get onto the scoreboard.
Towards the end of the set, the Lakers started to pick up the pace and close in on the gap the Lions had created, but it wasn’t enough. The set finished 25-19 for the Lions.
The score in the third set was close the entire way through, but the Lions always had the lead.
Lions always had the lead. Back-to-back points for York — an attack error on the Lakers and a kill by Chiara Da Silva — gave the Lions the two-point lead they needed to take the set.
When they hit the court for the fourth set, the Lions wasted no time creating yet another huge lead over their opponents.
By the middle of the set, the Lions were up 15-7. Their lead was there to stay, and they went on to crush the Lakers for a final set score of 25-14.
Unfortunately, the men did not have the same success as the women when they took to the court, as they lost in straight sets. They fell behind early in the sets due to attack errors, and never recovered. The Lakers’ lead throughout the set grew right to the end for a final score of 25-11.
The second set did not go much better for them. Though they were the first ones on the scoreboard, the Lions could not keep up with the Lakers’ attacks and quickly fell behind. This set wrapped up 25-16 in favour of the Lakers.
The Lakers lost steam in the third set, and that allowed the Lions to stay right on their heels the entire set.
The Lions managed to tie the score at 12-12, and from there stayed only one point behind until the end of the set when the Lakers pulled away to secure a 25-22 victory and a final match score of 3-0.
The women’s team now sits in fourth in the OUA East, with 12 points and a 6-6 record. The men are fifth in the same division, at eight points and 4-7 for the season.
The Lions volleyball squad is off this week. The following weekend they will travel to Kingston to take on the Queen’s Gaels on Saturday and the RMC Paladins on Sunday.
The Lions return to home court on Friday, February 7 to host the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.
