LIONS NIP PAST LAKERS IN FIVE TO REMAIN OUA’S ONLY UNBEATEN TEAM

The York University Lions men’s volleyball team won six matches all of last season.

After Friday night, they’ve already won seven this season.

It wasn’t easy, as the Lions won the first two sets before dropping the next two, setting up a fifth and deciding set, but the Lions managed to pull out a white-knuckle five-set win over the Nipissing Lakers on Friday night in North Bay.

The Lions, in their first match against Nipissing in three years, scored four of the games first five points to take a 4-1 lead. They took a 9-6 advantage after an Alex Ko ace, but the Lakers rallied to tie things at 13. That was a sign of things to come, as the set remained close for its duration, no team leading by more than two until the York’s penultimate point. York took the set thanks to back-to-back unforced errors from the Lakers, the first being a bad set and the second being a service error on set point. Those plays won it for the Lions 25-22 to give them a 1-0 lead.

The second set played out similarly to the opening frame, only this time Nipissing grabbed an early 3-1 lead. The Lakers led 13-11, but some sloppy play allowed the Lions to take the lead. The Lions scored each of their next four points on errors from the home side, accounting for four of the game’s next six scores, to make it 16-15 York. That was the crux of a 7-2 run for the Lions that made it 18-15. They would carry that lead for most of the remainder of the set before Nipissing closed to within one at 24-23, but a kill from rookie star Chris Hoffman sealed the set 25-23 and put the Lions on the verge of a sweep.

However, the hosts had other ideas. Despite York jumping out to a 4-1 third-set lead, Nipissing responded with a 6-1 spurt to take a 7-5 lead. After York went up 10-9, Nipissing scored four straight points to go up 13-10. York rallied to take a late 22-20 lead and appeared on the verge of a sweep. But, the Lakers replied by scoring four more in a row to go up 24-22. They would take the set 25-23 on a Martin Prinsloo service error to cut the Lions lead in half and send it to a fourth.

In that fourth, it was all Lakers, at least late. The set started out even, with the teams essentially trading blows up to a 10-10 tie. After a Prinsloo kill tied it at 10, the Lakers reeled off five consecutive points to go up 15-10. They led by as many as eight in the set and won it 25-17, necessitating a fifth and final set.

In that fifth, the Lakers took a quick 4-1 lead and led 7-4 before York reeled off four straight points to go up 8-7 bring about the mid-set switching of ends. The Lions took a 12-10 lead on a Hoffman kill, but the Lakers tied it back up with two straight points. The teams traded scores to bring it to a 13-all tie, before a service error from Nipissing’s Jack Svendsen gave York match point. On match point, with Alex Dorling back to serve, he sent a crater in the direction of Mitchell Winser, who mishandled it to give Dorling the ace and give the Lions their seventh straight win to open the season in a five-set thriller.

LOOKING AHEAD: 

The Lions and Lakers will lock horns once again on Saturday as the Lions look to move to 8-0. First serve flies at 4:00 pm.