The York University Lions women's volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the visiting Queen's Gaels in five sets in their battle at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Saturday afternoon.
 
After winning the first set, the Lions dropped the next two before rallying in the fourth and fifth for their fourth victory of the season. The win improves their record to 4-3 on the year and moves them into third place in the OUA East standings.
 
The Lions dominated early in the first set, racing to a 7-0 lead that swelled to 16-8 at the technical timeout. They continued to pile on points and won the opening set 25-11.
 
Momentum shifted quickly in the second set as it was the Gaels holding a 16-8 lead at the break. The Lions got as close as 20-14 but Queen's held on and took the set 25-17 to level the match.
 
The third set played out in similar fashion to the second, with the Gaels pulling ahead early and maintaining their lead down the stretch to take it 25-20.
 
The Lions played better to open the fourth and the two teams traded points back and forth, with Queen's holding a one-point advantage at the technical timeout. The two teams were tied at 22-22 late before three points in a row, led by a Sarah Williams (Oakville, Ont.) service ace and two errors by the Gaels, evened the match as the Lions won the set 25-22.
 
It took until the 12^th point of the fifth set before either team had a two-point cushion as the Lions led 7-5, and they were up 8-7 when the two teams switched sides. From there, the Lions pulled ahead and held on to take the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.
 
Williams led all Lions with 18.5 points, on 14 kills, two service aces and 2.5 blocks, and she also added 12 digs on the day. Celeste Witzell (Kitchener, Ont.) finished with 16.5 points on 14 kills and 2.5 blocks.
 
Setter Kirsten Dillon (Surrey, B.C.) found herself all over the stat sheet with 43 aces, 6.5 points and six digs.
 
The Gaels' leading scorer was Caroline Livingston with 20.5 points and she also added 17 digs.
 
The Lions have one more match before the December break and will welcome the RMC Paladins to the Tait McKenzie Centre on Sunday afternoon for a game beginning at 2pm.