Friday afternoon's volleyball game featured a competitive matchup with the Lions facing off against the Guelph Gryphons. 

Play in the first set was tight right from the opening, it wasn't until the midway point that York started to pull away with a strong lead. Alex Ko and Chris Hoffman provided multiple kills early, and the Lions blockers swarmed the net and created pressure. The Lions grabbed a 20-13 lead, forcing two Guelph timeouts. York closed out the set 25-21 after a late Gryphons surge, taking a threatening 1-0 lead in the match. 

The second set started out with ramped up intensity, again knotted at 6-6. Yet again though, York started to pull away, as Dennis Cota began to heat up, dropping a flurry of kills. Rookie Andrew Voorn also got into the action, with a pair of kills amassing a wide lead, and forcing a Gryphons timeout. The Gryphons' continuous errors led to a big set win for the Lions, 25-15, to go up 2-0 in the match. 

Two more vicious kills from Voorn led the opening run of 6-2 in the third, but the Gryphons stormed back to a rare lead of 9-7, forcing a Lions timeout. The Lions tied it back up at 13-13 off Guelph errors, and the match tightened up, going back and forth with the scoring. The Gryphons pulled away late and finished with a tight set win of 25-22 and avoided the sweep, now a 2-1 match. 

The Lions took a 9-5 lead to open the fourth set, putting Guelph on their heels. Ko also provided back-to-back kills, breaking into the double digits in that category. With York clinging to a small lead as the set progressed, they finally found some space, taking a commanding 20-15 lead that forced a Gryphons timeout. Guelph attended to respond with a late rush, but the Lions held them off, taking a 25-22 set win. York took a 3-1 set win and will look for a repeat victory tomorrow afternoon. 

LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions return to the Tait McKenzie Centre for a second match against the Guelph Gryphons tomorrow at 1:00 pm.