The York University Lions men's volleyball team closed off its fall season with a 3-2 loss against the Nipissing Lakers at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Sunday evening (Nov. 29).
 
The Lions dominated the first set as the Lakers struggled to contain the athletic and technical ability of Arthur Szwarc (Toronto), who hit six of the Lions' 11 kills. Alexander Duncan-Thibault (Scarborough, Ont.) and Yostin Frias (Monterrey, Mexico) also played a solid set and helped the Lions to a 25-15 win.
 
The Lakers picked up the intensity in the second in an attempt to unsettle the Lions. Duncan-Thibault and Nicolas Pirnat (Ottawa) had several moments of brilliance along the front line off of blocks and kills. Jules Muhawe (Orleans, Ont.) did his best to cover the pockets, finishing the game with 18 digs. However, the Lakers managed to scrape away with a 25-22 win that rounded out the second set and tied the match at 1-1.
 
The Lions trailed closely behind the Lakers for most of the third set, but found a lot of success from the left end of the court, thanks to three kills from Tyler Covach (Kitchener, Ont.) and two from Spencer Kingzett (Penticton, B.C.).
 
Both teams competed vigorously but it was Nipissing's Steven Wood's serve that fell short of the net and handed the Lions a third set win by a score of 25-23.
 
In the fourth set the game remained tight as both teams went back and forth. However two Lakers points at the end of the set secured Nipissing the 25-23 win they needed to push the Lions into a fifth.
 
Duncan-Thibault, Covach, Szwarc, Frias and Logan Mend (Naramata, B.C) played an excellent fifth set, but a kill from Cameron Branch finalized the 15-13 score that won Nipissing the game.
   
Branch had an outstanding performance, executing 24 kills and getting under the ball for eight digs. He had 27 points in total.
 
For the Lions, Szwarc led in points with 18, and had 17 kills and one block. Duncan-Thibault followed closely behind with 14.5 points off of 12 kills and Mend finished with 47 assists and seven digs.    
 
The Lions slipped to 5-7 with the loss and are seventh in the OUA standings heading into the December break, while the Lakers improved to 5-6.
 
From Jan. 8-10 the Lions will compete in the Excalibur Classic hosted at the Tait McKenzie Centre, but won't return to regular season competition until Saturday, Jan. 16. The game will be played at home against the Ryerson Rams at 4pm.