LIONS CRACK U SPORTS TOP 10 AFTER FIRST PLAYOFF WIN IN EIGHT YEARS

All aboard the top 10 train!

The York University Lions men’s volleyball team was ranked No. 10 in the nation for the week of Feb. 20-26, U SPORTS announced Tuesday. This is the first time the Lions have made the national rankings in more than six years.

The nod snaps another long drought for the Lions, and comes less than 72 hours after they won their first playoff game in eight seasons. The Lions downed the Queen’s Gaels in four sets (25-21, 15-25, 26-24, 26-24) in the OUA quarter-final, setting up a matchup with the OUA’s No. 1 seed, the McMaster Marauders, in the semis. York lost both its matches to McMaster in the regular season, both in four sets.

The Lions have put together a remarkable turnaround under interim head coach David Ta. From 2-9 in a COIVD-disrupted 2021-22 season to 13-7, they have had an 11-win improvement year-over-year. Those 13 regular season wins are the most for the program since 2016-17 when they went 15-3. Saturday’s quarter-final victory over Queen’s means York is just one victory away from qualifying for its first national championship since 2015.

The OUA semi-final between the Lions and Marauders is set for Sat., Mar. 4 at 7:00 pm from the Burridge Gymnasium in Hamilton. If the Lions win,  they will advance to the Forsyth Cup final for the first time since 2005, where they beat the Western Mustangs 2-1 in a best-of-three series.