The York University Lions men’s volleyball team will have to qualify for the U SPORTS championship via the bronze medal game, after they fell 3-0 (21-25, 18-25, 20-25) to the top-seeded McMaster Marauders in Saturday night’s OUA semifinal at Burridge Gymnasium.
The Lions, who were seeded fourth in the OUA and held national ranking of 10th, had their quest for an OUA banner come to an end with their first straight-set loss since Jan. 14.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions showed no signs of nerves early in the first set, taking the first five points of the set including some aces from Alex Dorling, forcing the favourited hosts to take a timeout. The Marauders regrouped well, though, eventually battling back to tie the game at 16-16.
McMaster was then the beneficiary of back-to-back blocks from Wojciech Kraj to go up 20-16. They held their lead, eventually earning the set win, 25-21.
The second set was a wire-to-wire win for the Marauders, as they took a 25-18 decision over York. Kraj had a team-high four points for the maroon and grey in the set victory.
The Lions and Marauders would then engage in a back-and-forth battle similar to the game’s opening set in the third. McMaster then went on a 5-0 run to take a 16-12 lead, forcing a York timeout.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Lions now await the loser of the other OUA semifinal between Windsor and Toronto to determine their opponent in the conference’s bronze medal game. The OUA’s third and final berth to the U SPORTS championship will go to the winner of that contest. It is scheduled for Saturday, Mar. 11 at a venue and time to be determined.
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