On Friday, the York University Lions men's volleyball team swept the Trent Excalibur 3-0 in their graduation game and last home game of the season at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
With the Lions' 5-5 record on home soil, they closed their last home game with a bang. Prior to the game, the Lions recognized their graduating players,
Andrew Shotbolt and
Toure Nwakwesi.
The Lions' spirit was high as they dominated the first set, capitalizing off the Excalibur's attack errors while gaining points of their own. A kill from Shotbolt helped, followed by a service ace from
Dan Everton that widened the Lions lead 21-14. Trent's Emmanuel Danso-Amofa scored a quick kill to help them gain points, but the Lions answered back with a booming spike from
Aleksander Grzegorczyk. The Lions were well in front and took the set 25-16.
In the second set, the Excalibur scored the opening point from Danso-Amofa, but the Lions quickly came back. An Excalibur attack error followed by a service ace from Shotbolt helped tie the score. The tie didn't last long as the Excalibur began to pull away, but a kill from
Alexandre Rioux helped tie the score, and an ace from Everton gave the Lions the lead for the first time in the set. A service ace from Rioux helped the Lions come back to win the second 25-21.
The Lions continued to keep their momentum high in the final set by scoring the first point from
Patrick Jensen, followed by energetic blocks from the team. The Lions held a five-point lead until the Excalibur gained their first point of the set. The Lions continued to put points on the board, outscoring the Excalibur by 10 points. But Trent gained some momentum and closed the gap to a four-point deficit. As the set was ending, the Lions made tactical offensive plays and smart defensive plays. A block from Jensen and Rioux gave the Lions the setpoint and an attack error from the Excalibur ended the final set with 25-20 giving the Lions a clean sweep.
Shotbolt led all players with 12.5 points, 10 of them kills.
The Lions will play their last game of the regular season on the road this Sunday in the Goldring Centre against the Toronto Varsity Blues at 3pm.
