Alexander Colle | Sports Editor
Featured image: The men’s team is now second-best in the OUA with a 5-1 record. | Courtesy of York Lions
The Lions men’s and women’s volleyball teams played host to two teams this weekend at the Tait McKenzie Centre: the Guelph Gryphons on Friday, and the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday.
The results were a pair of beatdowns by both Lions teams, taking all four matches against their opponents.
The Gryphons were no match for the mighty Lions men’s team in the first contest, as York easily handled Guelph in straight sets by scores of 25-23, 25-17, and 25-20.
The Lions were led by the dominance of Toure Nwakwesi, who converted 10 kills in the match.
After playing an evenly-matched first set, the Lions found themselves down 23-22 when Lion Andrew Shotbolt committed an attack error in trying to take the lead. Thankfully, luck was on the Lions’ side, as Guelph promptly committed a service error and an attack error, which gave the Lions a 24-23 lead. Shotbolt would then redeem himself next serve, blasting home an ace to give the Lions the first set.
The second set saw even more dominance from the Lions, as they were able to score three straight points three times in the set. At a score of 24-17, Lion Amir Paknahad put the set to bed with a kill from Logan Mend, giving the Lions a 2-0 set lead.
The third set saw more of the same play, as the Lions were able to convert 12 kills against Guelph’s seven. With a score of 24-20, the Lions finally ended the game with a kill from Nwakwesi, courtesy of Mend.
Also playing the Gryphons, the women’s team obtained another win on the young campaign, defeating Guelph in four sets by scores of 25-15, 21-25, 25-21, and 25-19.
The Lions were led by the play of Rachel Adams and Celeste Witzell, who tallied 15 and 13 kills, respectively.
York took control of the pace early, converting 18 kills against Guelph’s four in the first set. Up 19-12, the Lions managed to score five points in a row, including four kills from the Lions offense. After allowing a kill and two straight service aces from the Gryphons, Adams finalized the set with a kill courtesy of Mimi Demski.
The second set saw a stumble in play for the Lions, who played evenly with the Gryphons before allowing four straight points in the set, three of which were attack errors. York was down 13-8 after this untidy play, which they were unable to recover from, falling 21-25 and tying the game.
After trailing 16-13 in the third set due to a 5-0 run from the Gryphons, the Lions woke up offensively and outscored their opponents 12-5 to close out the set.
Up 2-1 in the match, the Lions looked to close out the Gryphons and earn their third win of the season. After building an 11-7 lead in the early set, the Lions put the game out of reach when they scored four straight kills in a row against the struggling Guelph defense. Up 24-19, the game came to a close when Gryphon Alex Curran failed to convert a proper set, giving York the 3-1 victory.
The next match for both York teams saw even more success—this time, defeating the Warriors in five sets for both games.
After winning the first set 25-22 in the women’s game, the Lions dropped the next two by scores of 23-25 and 19-25. As they were down 23-22 in the fourth set and on the brink of a loss, the Lions fought back to score four of the next five points, taking the set and bringing the match to a shortened fifth set.
Here, the Lions made quick work of the Warriors, taking them down by a score of 15-8 in the final set. The win brings their record to a respectable 4-2 on the season.
The men’s game was a rollercoaster of a match, with the Lions taking the first two sets by scores of 25-19, and then promptly losing the next two by the exact same scores. The Lions would recover in the final set, winning 15-7 and taking the victory. The win brings the Lions record to 5-1 on the season, which is good enough for second in the OUA East division.
The Lions look to end their semester on a high note at home on November 26 against the Trent Excalibur. The matches begins at 4 p.m. for the women and 6 p.m. for the men.
