The York University Lions women's volleyball team nearly gave up a two-set lead before holding on to defeat the Queen's Gaels 3-2 in a tight match on Sunday (Jan. 11) in Kingston, Ont.
 
The Lions won the first two sets 25-20 and 25-16. The Gaels bounced back in the third and fourth sets, winning 25-20 and 25-16. The fifth set was a hard fought battle where the Lions barely squeezed through to win 15-11 and take the match.
 
In the first set the Lions delivered 15 kills and made three errors. Leading the attack was Brittney Hopley (Thornhill, Ont.) and Veneta Mincheva (Gatineau, Que.), who pushed the Gaels to commit eight errors. The Gaels had a total of 10 kills in the first but it wasn't enough to defeat the Lions as they fell five points behind.
 
In the second set the Lions pushed through once more to complete another 15 kills, but stumbled with eight errors. The Gaels only committed four errors in the second, but the failed to drop many kills on the Lions as they only completed seven. Aleks Arsovic (Burlington, Ont.) and Michelle Pierce (Windsor, Ont.) helped steer the attack of the second to come out nine points ahead of the Gaels.
 
In the third set the Lions committed 16 kills but made five errors. The Gaels fought hard to bring down the hopes of the Lions as they committed a single error and made 11 kills. The Gaels were able to soar five points ahead of the Lions thanks to their lead attackers Shannon Neville and Brett Hagarty.
 
The Gaels managed to turn the entire game around in the fourth as the completed 10 kills and only had two errors. Despite the Lions' 13 kills, they also committed nine errors which allowed the Gaels to rise ahead and tie the match.
 
In the final set the Lions only made five kills but had absolutely no errors, leading them to the narrow four-point advantage.
 
Hopley finished with 23 points on 20 kills and three blocks to lead all Lions. Arsovic had 16 kills, two service aces and 1.5 blocks for 17.5 points, and Micheva finished with 15 kills, one service ace and one block for 17 points.
 
Leaders from the Gaels included Neville with 18 kills, two service aces and 1.5 blocks for 19.5 points and Hagarty with 10 kills, two service aces and an assisted block for 12.5 points.
 
Despite the win, the Lions remain below the Gaels in fifth place in the OUA East standings with a record of 7-5, while the Gaels are fourth at 9-4.
 
The next game for the Lions is a home game on Sunday (Jan. 18) against the Lakehead Thunderwolves at 2pm in the Tait McKenzie Centre.