The York University Lions men's volleyball team was defeated in four sets by the Waterloo Warriors in their OUA semifinal match at Burridge Gymnasium on Friday night (Feb. 20).
 
Playing in front of hundreds of Lions fans that made the trip to Hamilton, Ont., the Lions took an early lead by winning a thrilling first set 29-27, but the Warriors came back to take the second 25-22 and then won the final two sets by the same 25-21 scores. With the win the Warriors advanced to Saturday's gold-medal match against the McMaster Marauders, while the Lions will face the Windsor Lancers for bronze. Waterloo and McMaster have also both qualified for the CIS championships and, with a third berth available to the OUA, the winner of the third-place game will also advance.
 
Waterloo led early in the first set and held a 16-14 advantage at the technical timeout, but the Lions stormed back in the second half. The two sides traded points back and forth as the set wound down, until the Lions pulled out the two-point win.
 
The second set played out similarly to the first at the beginning, and the Warriors again led 16-14 at the technical timeout. But this time, they were able to withstand the pressure from the Lions, and they held on to even the match.
 
The Lions started strongly in the third, but the Warriors came back to tie it and the two teams again traded points. At the technical timeout, the Lions were up 16-15 but Waterloo again found another gear in the second half and took a 2-1 lead with the win.
 
The Warriors carried that momentum into the fourth set and while it was close throughout, Waterloo led 16-13 at the timeout and was never really threatened down the stretch.
 
Rookie outside hitter Josh Henderson (Scarborough, Ont.) led all players with 19 points on 16 kills, two service aces and one block, and he also added seven digs, and Marko Dakic (Mississauga, Ont.) had 16 points all on kills. Ray Szeto (Sutton, Ont.) finished with 15 points on 12 kills, two blocks and one service ace, and also led all players with 12 kills.
 
Waterloo's Zachary Doherty was named the player of the match after recording 18 points and 14 digs.
 
The Lions will battle the Lancers on Saturday night at 5:30pm at Burridge Gymnasium, with the championship final following at 8pm.