It’s long been said in sports that, ‘it’s not how you start; it’s how you finish.’
The York University Lions men’s volleyball team proved that on Saturday. After losing the first set, the Lions would win the next three – 25-15, 25-17 and 25-23 to take down the Trent Excalibur in their final game before the holiday hiatus. Josh Fadare had a game-high 20 kills, while Alexander Ko led York in assists with 19. The game was won despite a late Trent rally, which nearly forced a fifth set, but the Lions put the match to bed by scoring six of the final seven points.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Excalibur started the first set with a three-point lead after two aces. However, three consecutive Trent errors tied it back up at 4-4. Later in the set, errors from York cost them a three-point deficit, a kill from Fadare stopped the Excalibur from extending that gap. York stayed close but went down by five, 22-17, behind a pair of kills from Charlie Winser. He then ended the set with a kill, winning it for Trent 25-21.
Two attacking errors from Trent gave York the upper hand early in the second set, and York went on to score the next five points of the set to give them a 9-6 lead. Some more errors from both teams kept the set close early, before the Lions took control in the second half of the set. York continued to extend its lead with kills coming from Martin Prinsloo and Luke De Greeff, and eventually took the set 25-14 with a kill from Ko earning the final point.
The third set saw York develop a six-point lead after a Prinsloo block. That made it 9-3 Lions. York maintained a five-point point edge throughout the set with Alex Dorling scoring a kill to make it 13-8. York would then go on to score 5 in a row to extend their lead to 10. In the end, York took the third 25-17 to put the Excalibur on the brink.
After a grueling, tightly-contested fourth the Lions won the match after scoring five points in a row to stop Trent from forcing a fifth set. The Lions trailed 22-19 before rattling off those five consecutive points to force match point. One point later, the match was won after a kill was over-hit by Trent, giving York the win 25-23.
LOOKING AHEAD:
York returns to the court after the holiday season break, taking on the Queen’s Gaels on January 6th at 6:00pm from the Tait McKenzie Centre.