The York University Lions men’s volleyball team might have been 1-9 entering Friday’s first of two games between them and the Waterloo Warriors. However, they’ve lost three of those in five sets and been right there in a couple of four-set setbacks,. The club was looking for its second win of the season after a pair of tough losses last weekend – to Guelph in five sets and Toronto in four – to kick off 2024.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The first set unfolded as a tightly contested battle, with both teams remaining neck-and-neck. Kills from Dan Lafleur, Shaun Schonert, and Dennis Cota, among others, allowed York to hang around with the Warriors early. In the final moments of the opening set, with the score at 24-23 in favour of the hosts, a long rally ensued on the first set point of the match In the end, Waterloo’s Siraj Khanna delivered the deciding kill, concluding the set 25-23 in favour of the Warriors and giving them a 1-0 lead..
In the following set, the Lions secured their initial points courtesy of a service error an attack error from the Warriors, cutting the Waterloo lead to 3-2. With the Lions trailing at 10-9, Schonert had an attack go off the net, then off the head of a Warrior to level the score at 10-10. Building on this momentum, York gained two more crucial points, bringing the score to 12-10 in favour of York thanks to two more errors by the hosts. In what was a spirited back-and-forth set, the score once again reached 24-23, once again in favour of the Warriors. And, once again, the Warriors clinched the set, as Waterloo’s AJ Nichols delivered the final kill to seal another 25-23 set victory and put the Lions on the brink.
The final set began with both teams neck-and-neck, but the Warriors gradually widened the gap over the Lions. With the score 14-10, Waterloo reeled off seven of the next eight points. Trailing 21-11, the Lions began to claw back. They scored six straight points with Cota, Martin Prinsloo, and Alexander Ko delivering kills to narrow the gap to 21-17, However, Waterloo responded with four of the match’s final five points, including back-to-back kills by Noel Campfens, to propel the Warriors to a 25-18 victory third-set win and a sweep over York.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions look for redemption tomorrow evening as they continue their stay in Waterloo, gearing up to face the Waterloo Warriors in a weekend doubleheader. The first serve is set to fly at 6:00 p.m.