The York University Lions men's volleyball team beat the Nipissing Lakers in a thrilling 3-1 game on Friday, Jan 18 at the Tait McKenzie Center, winning their first game of the second-half of their 2018-2019 season.
 
The Lions were off to an early lead in the first set of the game with setter Logan Mend serving the first ball of the game. By the technical timeout, the Lions were leading 16-10 against the Lakers.
 
York's Andrew Tauhid provided the Lions with their 22nd point of the set, which was followed by another point on a serve by Mend. The last point of the set occurred as a result of an out of bounds serve from the Lakers, giving the Lions their first set win with a final score of 25-18.
 
Nipissing's Eric Ellison opened the second set with three serves in a row, giving them a 3-0 lead. York quickly put the Lakers' scoring streak to a stop, which was followed by a second point for York on a kill by Tauhid, bringing the set to a 3-2 lead for Nipissing.
 
The Lions were able to catch up and surpass the Lakers as York's Dan Everton secured a kill for the Lions bringing the score to 8-8. The Lakers then answered the Lions with a point of their own, tying the game once again. After blocking the Lakers and giving the Lions their 11th point, Aleksander Grzegorczyk secured another point for the Lions, bringing the score to a 12-10 lead for York.
 
By the technical timeout in the second set, the Lions were leading 16-14.
 
For their 20th point, York's Everton saved the ball as it was close to becoming a point for Nipissing, his rescue was then slammed by Grant Lynch for a thrilling point for the home team.
 
York's final point of the set was met with tension as Mend spiked the ball and the refs ruled it was out of bounds. However, with protests from the crowd and York's side, the officials got together and ruled it was tipped by a Lakers player and York was able to secure their 25th point and win the second set.
 
As the Lions led 4-3 at the beginning of the third set, York's Jules Muhawe dove to try to give the Lions their fifth point, however, the Lakers were able to respond and score a point and four more in a row after that one to bring the score to an 8-4 lead for the Lakers.
 
York's Toure Nwakwesi was able to bring the Lions back on track as they lagged 14-10 behind the visiting team. His kill gave the Lions their 11th point of the set. The Lakers, however, took over from there and won the third set 25-19.
 
The game went to the fourth set. The first point foreshadowed the remainder of the set as the Lions took the first point and the last point of the game, securing a 25-19 final set win that was never in doubt.  
 
Tauhid led both in kills and points for both teams with 11 kills and 16.5 points as Nipissing's Steve Wood led in kills with nine and tied in points with teammate Jeremie Murray with 11.0. Grzegorczyk also had a strong game for the Lions with 12.5 points and nine kills.
 
The Lions will be playing the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday, Jan 26 in Waterloo, Ont. in their next game.