This Friday afternoon featured a high caliber volleyball match, with the visiting York Lions and the Western Mustangs facing off against each other. The match promised to be competitive, with heavy playoff implications on the line with the regular season near its end.
The Lions got off to a strong start, taking a 9-4 lead in the first off, a flurry of kills. Out of a timeout, York continued to rally, holding on to a significant lead. The Lions took advantage of Mustangs errors, with Alex Ko and Dennis Cota contributing to 6 of the 8 kills in the set to capture 25-16.
Play was tight in the second, although the Lions were able to get the edge and push a 11-6 lead, forcing a Western timeout. York stayed hot, counting on the efforts of Alex Dorling to lead them, who had multiple kills in the set. However, the Mustangs hung on, pulling to within one multiple times, and finally tying it at 20-20 late in the set. From that point, the Lions went on a 6-4 run to take a narrow set by a score of 26-24.
Another close set opened with a 9-9 tie, as Cota broke into double digit kills and Chris Hoffman provided two consecutive key blocks to keep the Lions going. Tied back up at 18-18 late with back and forth scoring, a close final series pushed the Mustangs to set point at 24-22. Notably, an Alex Ko kill that brought the match to 23-22 was assisted by Jasraj Nijjar, a play that cemented Nijjar as the York Lions' new all-time assists leader. He surpasses the previous record of 2,467 set by Logan Mend (2014-19). Despite this accomplishment, the Mustangs pushed to a 25-22 win, making it a 2-1 match.
A 6-6 opening signaled another competitive set, as Dorling and Ko both joined Cota as players with double digit kills in the game. Although York built a small lead, the Mustangs stormed back to tie it at 12-12 midway through the set, forcing a timeout. Western took a small lead of their own later on, but the Lions crawled back to tie it at 18-18. A tight closing series favoured the Mustangs who finished a close 25-23 set to suddenly tie the match at 2-2, leading to a winner takes all fifth set.
Now holding the momentum, Western opened with a 7-5 lead despite two more kills from Ko, needing only 15 to take the final set. Out of a York timeout, errors continued to hurt the Lions, who weren't able to go on a big run to even up the score. Late kills from Colby Soolsma kept the Lions afloat, but the Mustangs did not let go of their lead, finishing a 15-10 set win and taking the match 3-2.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions will return for a rematch with the Mustangs on Sunday, February 8th. The match is set for 4:00 pm, with coverage on OUA TV.
