The York University Lions men's volleyball team clinched the top spot in the OUA East Division on Friday night with a four-set win over the Windsor Lancers at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
 
The victory, their ninth in a row and 14^th in their last 15 matches, improved their record to 14-3 on the season with 28 points, four points ahead of the idle Ryerson Rams with one match still remaining for the Lions.
 
In the beginning of the first set the Lancers kept the red-hot Lions in check until Alex Duncan-Thibault (Scarborough, Ont.) launched a guided missile that hugged the inside of the sideline. Following this, a big block by Robert Thompson (Maple, Ont.) set the Lions into a heavy 19-13 advantage.
 
Down the stretch, Windsor's inability to avoid serving errors would turn into the Lions holding a 24-18 lead. For the winning point of the set, Toure Nwakwesi (Brampton, Ont.) smashed a ball into Windsor's end and the Lions now had a 1-0 lead.
 
In the second set, a series of Windsor blocks would place the Lancers in a 14-8 lead. The Lancers had found new life defensively as they threw their bodies across the floor to achieve rally-extending digs. This relentless effort would call on the Lions to step up their game and the Lions began to swing back with Duncan-Thibault leading the charge and recording kill after kill.
 
The Lancers' lead was cut down to one after Andrew Shotbolt (Markham, Ont.) played larger than his frame and blocked a kill attempt from the Lancers front row. However, from this point the Lancers would use their previously gained momentum and take the victory by a score of 25-22.
 
With the Lions and Lancers holding on to one set apiece the third set would be crucial in deciding who would take the victory. The Lions started out slow and trailed 11-6, but Duncan-Thibault played like a possessed man and, while serving, he helped the Lions rally back to score 11 straight points and take a 17-11 lead, and they turned that into a 25-15 advantage.
 
In the fourth set the Lions had momentum on their side and were on the hunt for 25 points. As the Lions shot out to a 23-12 lead they were just moments away from extending their tremendous win streak. Robert Thompson (Maple, Ont.) would push the game to 24 with a laser of a kill, and then Kirsten Duncan-Thibault (Scarborough, Ont.) unloaded all of his force into the ball to cap off a triumphant ninth straight victory for the Lions.
 
The Lions will close the regular season on Saturday night when they welcome the Western Mustangs at the Tait McKenzie Centre beginning at 8pm.