In a thrilling match-up on Friday night (Oct. 30), the No. 10 nationally-ranked York University Lions men's volleyball team was edged out by the Waterloo Warriors by a 3-1 score on the road in Waterloo, Ont.
           
The first two sets were extremely close with the Warriors barely coming away with the wins. In the first set the Lions out-tallied their opponents with 15 kills and 34 attacks, however due to a few errors, the Warriors were able to steal enough points to win the set with a score of 25-21.
 
In the second set the Lions came out with more intensity as they forced six errors in the Warriors end. Two kills nailed in by last week's OUA athlete of the week Tyler Covach (Kitchener, Ont.) and Arthur Szwarc (Toronto) separated the 21-21 score near the end of the set, but it didn't stop the Warriors from slipping out a 25-23 win.
 
The Warriors lead didn't phase the Lions, however, as they completely dominated the third set.  Nicolas Pirnat (Ottawa, Ont.), along with Covach and Szwarc, were key players that led the team in attacks and ensured the 25-19 win.  
 
After catching up from a 19-16 Warriors lead midway through the fourth, the Lions battled for the win. Tim Jensen (Hamilton, Ont.) was able to level the score at 24-24 with a kill of his own, but with a crucial kill and block from Waterloo's Jordan McConkey the Warriors snuck in a 26-24 win to end the game. 
 
Overall, Covach (12), Szwarc (13), Pirnat (10), and Jensen (eight) led the Lions in kills, while Logan Mend (Naramata, B.C.) nearly assisted all of them with 40 assists.
 
The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Lions as they will continue their road trip in Hamilton, Ont., against the No. 1 McMaster Marauders on Saturday night (Oct. 31) beginning at 7pm.