The York University Lions men's volleyball team opened up their 2016-17 playoff campaign on Saturday afternoon against the Waterloo Warriors at the Tait McKenzie Centre and saw its season come to an end sooner than they wanted in a 3-1 loss in their OUA quarter-final match.
 
The Warriors have now advanced to the OUA Final Four Championships for the sixth straight season.
 
In the opening frame of the match the Lions looked out of their usual high-flying form. The Warriors shot out to a quick lead that slowly began to compound against the Lions. Alex Duncan-Thibault (Scarborough, Ont.) took to his usual business regardless of the score in the set en route to his team leading 20 kills, but the set would end 25-17 in favour of the Warriors.
 
In the second set the Lions would be pushed to the limit as they desperately needed to get back into the match. Duncan-Thibault continued his dominant play all the way through to the final point and was credited with two of the final three kills to take the set by a score of 27-25 and pull even with the Warriors.
 
To start out the third set the Warriors went on a 4-0 run that would set the tone for another difficult set for the Lions. Toure Nwakwesi (Brampton, Ont.) played hard at the point of attack throughout the game and especially in the third set, finishing the match with eight kills and 10.5 total points. Waterloo would take the victory by a score of 25-20 to lead 2-1 in the match.
 
The Warriors stymied any of the Lions chances to create momentum with towering blocks and powerful hits. Spencer Dakin Kuiper (Lethbridge, Ont.) was one of the Lions bright spots in the final frame as he would finish the game with eight total points, five of them from kills. The Warriors would record their final point to punch their ticket to the semifinals and knock out what was a red hot Lions squad. The score of the fourth set was 25-22.
 
The Lions' season is now over, while the Warriors will face their division rivals in the Guelph Gryphons in the OUA semifinals next weekend in Hamilton, Ont.