The seemingly unbeatable York University Lions men's volleyball team ended the regular season with a four-set victory over the visiting Western Mustangs to head into the playoffs riding a 10-game winning streak after the finale at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Saturday night.
 
To begin the opening frame of the match, the Lions and the Mustangs played ping pong with each other. Both teams were extending rallies and scoring by any means necessary. With the back and forth battle heading into the end of the set, Toure Nwakwesi (Brampton, Ont.) would use his massive 6-foot-5 frame to block shots and hit the ball with immense force.
 
With the score now sitting at 24-22, a long rally ensued and Alex Duncan-Thibault (Scarborough, Ont.) denied the Mustangs with a huge block to give the Lions the early lead in the match.
 
Andrew Shotbolt (Markham, Ont.) brought the boom midway through the second set when he rifled a ball into the chest of a helpless Western defender to collect the point. Shotbolt posted a very impressive set as he continued to record kill after kill. Duncan-Thibault would do his part in extending the Lions' lead to five when he drove a ball to the feet of the Western back row with authority. The Lions established a late run, which ended in the Mustangs oversetting a ball and handing the Lions a free point. York would take the set by a score of 25-18 and led 2-0 in the game.
 
The Mustangs jumped to a quick 10-6 lead to star the third set, but the Lions' fortunes began to change when Western handed the Lions four straight points off of miscues. With the score sitting at 23-20 for the Lions, the Mustangs handed away yet another point and the Lions had match point. However, they were not done yet as they rallied back to tie the match at 24-24.
 
That was as close as Western would get, however, as another error gave the Lions the victory to cap an outstanding season.
 
With the victory the Lions will finish the season with a 15-3 record and in first place in the OUA East standings. They will open the playoffs by hosting the Waterloo Warriors in an OUA quarter-final match next Saturday at 4pm at the Tait McKenzie Centre.