The York University Lions women's volleyball team took on the visiting Brock Badgers in the Lions' annual Dig for the Cure game on Friday night, falling in five sets after twice erasing a one-set deficit.
The first set was a closely fought battle which saw the score climb past 25 points. The set ended 28-26 in favour of the Badgers.
The Lions bounced back in the second set to a big win over their opponent. The set ended 25-15, bringing the match score to 1-1. However, the score reversed itself in the third set. The Badgers had a big win of their own, defeating the Lions 25-14. They retook the lead in the match at 2-1.
The fourth set saw closer scores despite the Badgers taking an early lead. The Lions quickly caught up and surpassed the Badgers after the technical timeout, and came out victorious, winning 25-20 and forcing the game into a fifth set.
The deal-breaker fifth set saw the Badgers assert themselves early on. The Lions could not recover and fell to the Badgers 15-11.
Leading the Lions was
Melissa Smillie with 16 points (10 kills, four service aces, one solo block, two assisted blocks).
Celeste Witzell contributed 15 points throughout the match (nine kills, one service ace, two solo blocks, six assisted blocks).
Sarah Williams led the team in digs with 15.
The bulk of the Badgers' points came from Tori Carroll and Renee Helmer with 15 (nine kills, two service aces, three solo blocks, two assisted blocks) and 14.5 points (13 kills, one solo block, one assisted block), respectively. Grace Edwards and Megan Smith led the team in digs with 12 each.
The Lions will be back in action at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Sunday at 2pm looking to redeem themselves when they take on the OUA West Division-leading McMaster Marauders.
