The No. 2 seeded Dalhousie University Tigers fended off a comeback bid from the No. 7 seeded York University Lions with a 3-2 (25-23, 25-19, 25-27, 16-25, 15-13) win in the first quarter-final of the 2015 CIS Men's Volleyball Championship Thursday afternoon in Saskatoon.
   
Dalhousie seemed to be in control throughout the first two sets, but York refused to go away.
 
The first set saw the two teams trading blows, with the largest lead of the set being just three points. The Tigers extended their advantage to 23-20 before an Alexander Dempsey kill gave Dalhousie the first set 25-23.
 
York opened the second set with three straight points before Dalhousie battled back to lead the set at 8-7. The Tigers would slowly build to a 22-17 advantage when York called a second timeout, but it proved to be a futile effort as Dalhousie took the set 25-19 to take a 2-0 match lead.
 
The third set featured no dramatic leads early, but an incredibly dramatic end. Dalhousie worked to a 23-19 lead before York battled back. Fifth-year outside hitter Ray Szeto's (Sutton, Ont.) back row attack tied the set at 24-24 before a block by Nikola Sandic (Etobicoke, Ont.) gave the Lions a 25-24 lead. The two teams would trade points before an attack by Dalhousie sailed just past the end line. The line judge ruled the ball in before the umpire over-turned the call, giving York a 27-25 third-set victory and keeping their hopes alive.
 
In the fourth set the Lions controlled play from the start and led by as many as 10 points before taking the set 25-16.
 
A big block by Matthew Donovan gave Dalhousie an 8-5 lead in fifth set and seemed to be the turning point, but York refused to go away, battling back to a 12-12 tie. Dalhousie found a way to close out the match despite a last ditch effort from the Lions The Tigers took the final set 15-13.
 
York was paced by Szeto's match-high 20 kills. The fifth-year all-Canadian kept the Lions alive playing in his final CIS season. CIS rookie of the year Josh Henderson (Scarborough, Ont.) put up 12 kills, while Sandic had a match-high 46 assists.
 
"It was a hard fought battle," said Lions coach Mike Chumbley. "Dalhousie came out guns blazing and we had a bit of first time jitters that got to us off the hop. As we got more comfortable with the court and surroundings, we felt we had a real opportunity to extend the match and even win the fifth set. We had two swings that went a bit to far outside the court. We'll go back review the video, learn from this,  reset for tomorrow and for down the road."
 
Three Tigers finished in double-digit kills, led by Kristen O'Brien's team-high 17 kills. Alex Dempsey put up 14 kills while Bryan Duquette contributed 13 kills. O'Brien was named Dalhousie's player of the match for his efforts. Fourth-year setter Jonathan Macdonald dished 45 assists, while second-year libero Adam Sandeson finished with a team-high 11 digs.
 
The Tigers move to the semifinal on Friday afternoon against the Alberta Golden Bears, while York drops to the consolation semifinal against the Waterloo Warriors. The match is set for 1pm Central Time.