A hopeful Lions men's volleyball team started the new year with a tough matchup against the Windsor Lancers, the team at the top of the OUA standings. With the Lancers looking to maintain their position and York trying to claw their way up in the standings, Friday night's match promised an exciting matchup.

The first set began as a back-and-forth battle, with neither side able to get significantly ahead. Midway through, the Lancers clung to a small lead, trying to fend off four Lions players dropping multiple kills in the set. A Lions timeout was taken while down 20-16, but their offence stalled out shortly after, being outscored 5-2. This allowed Windsor to take the set 25-18 and go up 1-0 in the match.

Although down a set, the Lions held their own, starting the second tied at 8-8, with Dennis Cota and Jasraj Nijjar controlling the pace in the centre of the court. However, it was the Lancers again who were able to pull away with a lead midway through the set and capture the momentum, going on a 9-2 run. Errors began to pile up as the Lions attack deflated, struggling to get anything going. The Lancers cruised to a 25-14 set victory to go up 2-0 in the match.

Needing a spark to ignite a comeback and avoid a sweep, the Lions found themselves down in a 10-5 hole early. Chris Hoffman rallied the Lions, leading the team in kills and forcing a service ace early in the set. A timeout taken down 12-6 hoped to get the Lions back on track, but Windsor wouldn't budge from their comfortable lead. Continuous errors kept coming back to haunt the Lions, although only having seven less kills than the Lancers. 6 of them came from Dennis Cota, who had a strong game, but it was too little too late, as Windsor fought off a late Lions surge for a 25-21 set win.

LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions will look to shake off tonight's loss and focus on a rematch with the Windsor Lancers tomorrow afternoon. Match time is set for 3:00pm, with coverage on OUA TV.