2023-24 LIONS WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL SEASON PREVIEW

After one of the most successful seasons in recent memory, the York University Lions women’s volleyball team is back and ready to take that next step in 2023-24.

The Lions finished last season on a heater, winning five in a row to vault into the fifth spot in the OUA and earning a first round playoff matchup with the McMaster Marauders. The Lions fell down 2-1 in that match before winning the final two sets and, in so doing, ending a decade-long playoff winless streak.

“I think one of the main lessons we learned last year was to compete and win against very good teams,” said fourth-year outside hitter Jessica Reynolds. “I would consider us the underdogs going into a lot of really tough games last year, but we came out with a lot of really crucial five-set wins and I think that’s something very important we can carry on this year.”

Reynolds, the most senior member of the Lions this season, will take on a large leadership role on the court and off. When asked who else will join her as part of the leadership group, she pointed to a couple teammates with increased on-court roles this season.

“Two key players kind of come into my mind,” she said. “The first would be Megan McDonald, She’s a fourth year setter and she worked really hard, really hard over the offseason. You can definitely tell when she came in super confident this year. And the other is Amari Endes. She was the best blocker in the OUA last year and I know she’s definitely ready to bring that blocking back into our play.”

The Lions also have an exciting crop of recruits entering the fold this year, including Victoria Herrington, an outside hitter from Port Perry, Ont., and Kianna Drewniak, a native of Calgary, Alta who has seen time at a number of positions throughout training camp.

“They’re really stepping into their roles,” said third-year outside hitter Alisa Trubyuk. “Victoria has already made a really big impact, and Kianna coming into a few different positions is working really hard as well to do her part.”

While winning is obviously the primary goal, success can be measured in other areas as well. Trubyuk says building a strong foundation with the entire team – players, coaches, and staff alike – is extremely important.

“I think successes outside of winning, losing would be the connection and trust that we build within our team,” she said. “Having trust within players and coaches and strength conditioning coaches, everyone involved in the process of getting us where we need to be building those connections and trust is really beneficial for success overall.”

One of the strong characteristics of last year’s Lions, as Reynolds mentioned, was their ability to bare down and compete in long, exhilarating matches against top competition. Trubyuk believes that ability and building that high degree of trust go hand-and-hand.

“Yeah, I’d say it’s a really big part of it,” she said. “Kind of just consistently growing as a team and taking away lessons from every game and every opportunity that we get to build and build towards the very end and continue going strong throughout the whole process.”

The Lions begin their 2023-24 campaign on their home floor this Saturday, Nov. 4, against the visiting Brock Badgers in a rematch of last year’s Quigley Cup semi-final. First serve flies at 1:00 pm.