The York University Lions women's volleyball team was defeated in their home opener by the Queen's Gaels at the Tait McKenzie Centre by a score of 3-1.
 
In the first set of the match, the Lions came out strong with an opening point on a block from rookie Wesley-Ann Bailey. Although the Lions were quick to get a lead, the Gaels came back hard with some points of their own, giving them a 6-3 lead. The Lions continued to play catch-up until they gained four points from Gaels attack errors and finally a point from Bailey.
 
Momentum was finally starting to swing the Lions way until the Gaels came back and scored three points every time the Lions scored one. The first set ended with a close score of 25- 21 for the Gaels.
 
In the second set, the Lions needed to redeem themselves, and they came out resilient. Although the Gaels scored first, the Lions answered back with five straight points. The Lions continued to score points and remain in the lead until the Gaels scored five points in a row, three of them on aces by Julia Wiericigroch to tie up the set at 17-17.
 
Fortunately for the Lions, Lauren Mellon caused an attack error that gave the Lions the much-needed space, and they came back to lead. The two teams were neck-and-neck until the Lions scored three straight points to close it at 27-25 and even the match.
 
In the third set, the Gaels scored early and often despite the best efforts of Olivia Kim and Bailey on blocks and a kill by Kayla Clennon. The Gaels led the Lions with a 16-7 score by the set break, and that's when things started to look optimistic for the home team as they went on a mini run, but they were bested with a final score of 25-19 for the set.
 
In the fourth set, the Lions got on the board first on a block by Bailey and Clennon but the Gaels regained the lead and held it for the rest of the set. The Lions were down by the break with a score of 16-10 and lost the set with a final score of 25-17 giving the Gaels the win.
 
Clennon led all Lions with 11.5 points on 10 kills and three assisted blocks. Kim led all players with 18 digs and Chiara Da Silva finished with 16 assists.
 
The Lions play their next game against the Ryerson Rams at home on Wednesday at 6pm, where they have a chance to get into the win column for the first time this season.