Friday night marked the opener of the two-day series at Tait McKenzie Centre, with the York University Lions volleyball teams hosting the Queen’s Gaels. On the women’s side, the 4-4 Lions were looking to push back above .500 against a 7-1 Gaels team led by former Lions assistant Shanice Marcelle. On the men’s side, it was a battle between a pair of 7-1 teams, with York looking to earn the first leg up on Queen’s in a dual between two of the OUA’s top three teams.
Women’s Match:
It was all Queen’s early on, as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead that had the Lions on their heels. The home team took advantage of Gaels errors at the net to keep it a competitive first set. However, Queen’s winning the kill battle of the set, dropping thirteen total compared to York’s six (with three coming from Victoria Herrington), was the difference in the set. The first set went to the Gaels by a score of 25-16.
The second was neck and neck, with the score flipping back and forth on one-point differentials early in the set. However, the Lions suffered from a burst of self-inflicted errors that allowed Queens to open up a lead midway through the set off a 5-0 run. Julia Typa, who had been strong the whole game, rallied the Lions back to the lead, breaking out for four kills in the set. On set point, a kill by Herrington sealed a York win of 25-20 to even the match at 1-1 and hold off the Gaels.
Queen’s responded in the third, taking a commanding 10-3 lead early. Queen’s’ Hannah Duchesneau and Mary Stewart also broke into double digits for kills in the set, pouring on a heavy offensive onslaught. The Lions were unable to go on a run of their own, as the visitors ultimately took the set 25-17 to go up 2-1.
Needing a set win to keep the match alive, Typa and Herrington again led the Lions offnensively Down 15-9 midway through the set, the Lions were able to slowly close the gap to two with multiple kills from Brooklyn Parliament, who was starting to heat up. Late in the set however, Queens held strong and closed out a 25-19 set win that allowed them to take the overall match 3-1.
Men’s Match:
As expected, play was tight right from the very start. Both teams committed several service errors from both sides. Midway through the first, however, the Lions began to pull away slightly, taking advantage of some Queen’s mistakes. The Lions shared the court effectively, with five different players having at least one kill in the set. Alex Ko stuck out in particular, hammering two kills and adding an ace. This led to an explosive run late in the set that gave York a 25-21 set win.
Although starting off tightly contested yet again, Ko’s early kills (with five in the set) kept the momentum with the Lions. Alex Dorling also got hot, dropping five of his own. Knotted up midway through the set, the Gaels took the lead, and protected it until the end, winning the second by the same score they lost the first, 25-21.
The Gaels kept their momentum, opening the third set on a 12-7 run. Coming out of a timeout, they dropped five unanswered points to open a substantial lead. While York tried to crawl their way back, led by the efforts of Chris Hoffman, Queens ultimately closed out a 25-16 set win to go up 2-1 in the match, putting pressure on the Lions.
With their backs against the wall, the Lions opened with a clutch 10-2 start. Dennis Cota got active in the set, dropping multiple kills and remaining an absolute force at the net. Queen’s attack errors helped York grow a massive double-digit lead of their own. Dorling and Ko contributed multiple points to capture a dominant Lions set win of 25-11, evening the match at 2-2, the stage was set for a thrilling five set finish.
Pushing each other into deep waters, it was a tightly locked affair in the final frame. Ko set the tone with another blistering kill early on. After being tied at 7-7, Queen’s, though, responded by scoring seven unanswered points to put the Lions on the brink with match point. While Cota broke up the scoreless drought with a kill, the Gaels took the set 15-9, winning a close match by a score of 3-2.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions will take on Queen’s again Saturday, with the women’s match at 4:00pm and the men’s match 6:00 pm in their Dig for the Cure games. The men’s team will also be hosting its 2004-05 OUA championship-winning team, in this the 20th anniversary season of the title. Both teams will be looking for revenge, with the women’s team dropping to 4-5 on the season, and the men’s team dropping to 7-2. Coverage of the matches will be available on OUA TV.