PREVIEW: LIONS TRAVEL TO QUEEN’S FOR PLAYOFF OPENER

The York University Lions women’s volleyball team is back in the playoffs, and set to travel to Kingston, Ont., to face off against the Queen’s Gaels in the OUA quarter-final this Saturday.

The game is set for a 5:30 pm start at the ARC Main Gym on the campus of Queen’s University, and features No. 4 seed Queen’s hosting York, who finished fifth in the OUA East.

The road to the playoffs this year was defined early on for York, after they stormed out of the gate with a 7-1 record in their first eight games and were placed just behind the No. 1 seeded Toronto Varsity Blues. However, they’ve lost four games in a row – all extremely tight contests – to the Blues and Queen’s, who are also nationally ranked.

The Gaels last two wins over York in the final two games of the regular season solidified their place as the hosts of this quarter-final. As a team that has routinely been over .500 in the last decade, York will try to unseed Queen’s as the new kid on the block near the top of the OUA standings.

The Lions haven’t been in the conversation for best in the OUA for quite some time, but have begun an ascent toward the top of the conference. 2019-20 was York’s first above .500 since 2016-17, posting a record of 10-9, and besting that winning percentage this season, finishing 7-5.

Part of their improvement this season was rooted in a large cast of returning players, who became the team’s offensive leaders. Third-year Olivia Kim led the team in kills (121) and points (134.5). Chiara Da Silva had the team lead in assists with 313. Jessica Reynolds slotted in at second on the team in both kills and points.

The group also benefited from some new additions who made an immediate impact upon joining the Lions’ lineup. Alisa Trubyuk, a first-year from Woodbridge, Ont., finished third overall on the team in both kills (59) and points (83). Christina Piccinin, a transfer from McGill, was fourth on the team in each of those categories.

Queen’s has a very balanced offensive team, but is led by Arielle Palermo with 83 kills. While they have zero players with over 100 kills to York’s two, but they have 10 players in double digit kills. That’s more than both York and top seed Toronto, who both have nine.