The York University Lions women's volleyball team forced a fifth set after dropping the first two in an eventual 3-2 loss to the Toronto Varsity Blues in the regular-season finale for both teams at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Sunday afternoon.
Despite the loss, the Lions finished 8-11 and clinched the fourth and final seed in the OUA East Division playoff race after the Nipissing Lakers lost to the Ryerson Rams earlier in the day. The Varsity Blues will be the second seed in the division after completing a 15-4 regular season.
The first set got off to a rough start for the Lions when the Varsity Blues raced ahead with four points before
Heather Setka could get the Lions onto the scoreboard. By the time the technical timeout came around, the Varsity Blues had a huge 16-2 lead and they carried that through to a 25-8 win.
The Lions started stronger in the second set, where they took an early four-point lead. The Varsity Blues initially closed to within one point of the Lions before tying the score 5-5. From there, the score remained close, with the Varsity Blues never more than three points ahead of the Lions. After the technical timeout, the Varsity Blues extended their lead to once again win the set, this time at a closer score of 25-19.
The third set began similar to the second, with the score remaining close until the technical timeout, where the Lions had taken a two-point lead of 16-14. They increased this lead to four points after the timeout, but this was short-lived. The Varsity Blues brought the score to 18-17 before the Lions opened up with a 21-18 lead. It looked like the Varsity Blues were on the cusp of making a comeback, but the Lions could not be stopped and won their first set of the match 25-21, forcing a fourth.
The fourth began with a closely-fought battle and neither team had a substantial lead for long at the outset. That changed by the technical timeout, where the Lions once again found themselves in the lead at 16-10. They held onto their lead to close out the set 25-19 and tie the match 2-2.
Set five saw the Varsity Blues earn six consecutive points before the Lions got on the scoreboard with a kill from
Kayla Clennon. The Lions struggled to put up points against their opponents, and ultimately fell to the Varsity Blues 15-5.
Leading the scoring for the Lions was Setka with 15 points (13 kills, two service aces).
Melissa Smillie and
Justine Jones led the team in digs with nine each.
Alina Dormann led the scoring for the Varsity Blues with 18.5 points (16 kills, one service ace, one solo block, one assisted block). She also had a game-high 10 digs.
The Lions will be on the road when the playoffs begin next weekend, travelling to Hamilton, Ont., to face the OUA West's top seed, the McMaster Marauders, in the OUA quarter-finals. The time of the game is to be determined.
