The York University Lions men's volleyball team came back from a two-set deficit to beat the Gryphons by a score of 3-2 at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Sunday evening (Nov. 15).
 
The Grphons took the first set after going neck and neck with the Lions throughout the course of action. The Lions were up 26-24 late in the set thanks to kills from Arthur Szwarc (Toronto) and Alexander Duncan-Thibault (Scarborough, Ont.), but the Grypons were able to recover in time to end with a 29-27 win.
 
The second set was also a closely-matched contest. The teams battled back and forth to edge out a win, but the Gryphons broke free with eight consecutive points near the end of the set to come away with a 25-22 win.
 
It was a daunting task for the Lions to pick themselves up after losing two sets, but the players were determined.
 
Guelph's Joshua Green grabbed several points off of kills for his side, but Szwarc and Tyler Covach (Kitchener, Ont.) got above the net to spike 10 of the Lions 25 points to end the third set in a 25-19 win for the home team.
 
The Lions continued their momentum into the fourth set and pulled off a convincing 25-16 victory to get them back in the game. Midway through the half they held an impressive lead off of numerous kills from Tim Jensen (Hamilton, Ont.) and Nicolas Pirnat (Ottawa, Ont.).
 
The fifth set was either team's to take, but the Lions held a steady lead with each point given. Covach, Jensen, Pirnat and Duncan-Thibault all tallied points for the team, but it was Szwarc's critical game-point kill that secured the 15-12 win that won the Lions the match.
 
Szwarc's individual performance earned him an impressive 25.5 points on 23 kills, 1.5 blocks and one service ace, and he also added eight digs. Pirnat was also impressive with 16 points on 14 kills, one block and one service ace, while Davis Gordon (Markham, Ont.) put up 46 assists.
 
The Lions will be on the road for their next contest against the Ryerson Rams in Toronto at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. First serve is set for 8pm on Friday (Nov. 20).