The York University Lions women's volleyball team defeated the RMC Paladins in straight sets on Sunday (Nov. 30) in a home game at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
 
York's exceptional blocking from Michelle Pierce (Windsor, Ont.) and Brittney Hopley (Thornhill, Ont.) assisted the Lions victory. The Lions won the first set 25-19, the second 25-14 and the third 25-14.
 
In the first set, the Lions looked shaky when many of their hits went out-of-bounds, aiding the Paladins to be in the lead 16-12. However, massive spikes by Hopley, Pierce, Celeste Witzell (Kitchner, Ont.), Cadence Currie (Scarborough, Ont.) and Aleks Arsovic (Burlington, Ont.) were too powerful for the Paladins to defend against as they began to fall to the Lions.
 
The Lions ended the first set strong with two powerful kills from Veneta Mincheva (Gatineau, Que.) and Kirsten Dillon (Surrey, B.C.) to take it by six points.
 
In the second set the Lions continued to pound the Paladins as the energetic Hopley demonstrated her spiking talent.
 
In one play, Pierce charged up for a spike, but tricked the Paladins by simply tipping the ball over and gaining a point for York.
 
Delanie Chang and Nicole Behnke from the Paladins did an outstanding job defending against the Lions, but it was not enough to pull their team through as they lost by 11 points.
 
The third set was full of several diving saves and fast recoveries from the Lions that helped them hold the lead against the Paladins. RMC's Danielle Vortisch threatened that lead as her pounding kills closed the gap.
 
Octavia Wong (Thornhill, Ont.) contributed many tremendous serves that threw the Paladins off guard and got the Lions extra points. The set ended with the same 11-point advantage for the Lions as in the second set.
 
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Lions and improved their record to 5-5 on the year, while the Paladins remain at the bottom of the OUA East with a mark of 2-9.
 
The leaders from the Lions included Hopley with 12 kills and four blocks, Pierce with nine kills, three aces and three blocks and Mincheva with six kills, one ace and one block.
 
Behnke led the Paladins with 10 kills, one ace and three blocks, and Vortisch had eight kills, one ace and one block.
 
The Lions are now off for the December break and will return to action against the Paladins on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 3pm in Kingston, Ont.