The York University Lions men’s volleyball team hosted the Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday afternoon in their final game of 2023. The Lions were looking to halt a three-game losing streak and improve to 2-4 on the season.
Toronto, however, had other ideas, as they completed a three-set sweep of the Lions, and got back to .500 on the season at 3-3.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Lions scored the first point, before Toronto posted five of the next six. Toronto held the lead for the remainder of the opening set, and took the first by a 25-12 count to take a 1-0 lead.
The second set was a set of runs, with Toronto scoring the first three before York rallied to tie. The visitors then scored five of the next six to lead 8-4. The Varsity Blues put together a 9-1 mid-set spurt to grab a 20-9 advantage, and went on to win the second 25-14 to grab a 2-0 lead.
The Blues opened the third with the first three points of the set, before the Lions scored three of four to cut the deficit to one. The Lions eventually knotted the set at 8-8, but that was followed by a 9-2 run by Toronto. The Lions, though, weren’t about to go quietly into the holidays; they put together an 8-2 run of their own to trim the Toronto lead to one at 19-18. But, they were unable to draw even, conceding six of the final seven points in what was a 25-19 final set score to secure the sweep for Toronto.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions now shift their focus to the new year. They will open up the 2024 portion of their schedule on Friday, Jan. 5, when they host the Guelph Gryphons at 8:00 pm.