The York University Lions men's volleyball team earned a hard-fought victory over the Western University Mustangs on Saturday night, defeating them by a final score of 3-1 at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
The victory was a huge one over the perennially strong Mustangs, who were 10-3 coming into the match and had defeated the Lions in straight sets in their previous match-up earlier this season.
Third-year outside hitter Ray Szeto continued his phenomenal play to lead the Lions to victory, scoring a game-high 25.5 points on 22 kills and 3.5 blocks and adding 11 digs. The Lions are now one game above .500 at 8-7 and comfortably hold down fifth place, six points ahead of sixth-place Ryerson University. More details on the York Lions website.
One night earlier, the Lions cruised to a straight-sets victory over the University of Windsor Lancers. The Lions never trailed in any of the three sets as they cruised to the sweep, and were led by a balanced attack that saw four players reach double digits in points.
Szeto led the Lions' attack with 12.5 points on nine kills, 2.5 blocks and one service ace. Felipe Humana-Paredes, Gregory Ivan and Marko Dakic all added 11 points of their own. Humana-Paredes recorded nine kills, one block and one service ace, Ivan had eight kills and three blocks and Dakic tallied 10 kills and one service ace. Paul Jakubiak continued his solid play running the offence with a match-high 32 assists. More details.
Wilson scores in OT as women’s hockey Lions upset Golden Hawks
Undeterred by a two-goal deficit in the second period, the York University Lions women's hockey team rallied back against the nationally ranked Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks on Saturday afternoon, ultimately upsetting the Hawks with a 5-4 overtime victory at Canlan Ice Sports.
The overtime heroics came from fifth-year forward Kristie Wilson, who received a pass in the neutral zone, skated through the defenders, and sniped the top corner just over the blocker of Golden Hawk goalie Kayla Brown to win the game for the Lions at 2:54 of the overtime period. More details.
One day later the Lions were blanked by the University of Waterloo Warriors by a score of 2-0 at CIF Arena in Waterloo. York goaltender Megan Lee did her part to keep her team in the game, stopping 26 of 28 shots including all 20 in the first two periods. More details.
Track and field Lions finish second, seventh at McGill Team Challenge
The York University Lions men's track and field team finished in second place among 26 teams at the McGill Team Challenge this weekend, Jan. 25 to 26, in Montreal. The women also put forth a top-10 showing, finishing seventh.
The men combined to record eight podium finishes, including two gold medals.
Daniel Novia, the defending Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) champion in the weight throw, finished first in the event with a distance of 20.15 m, nearly one metre further than the silver-medal finisher. His winning distance was just 11 cm less than the meet record he set one season ago.
Teammate Eric Brathwaite gave the Lions another top-three finish in the event by winning the bronze medal with a personal-best throw of 18.63 m. Chris Preece also recorded a personal-best distance of 16.58 m to finish seventh.
York's other gold medal came in the pole vault courtesy of David McKay, the defending OUA champion who won the event at 4.65 m. Just behind him was teammate Vince DiBacco, who won the silver medal with a season-best height of 4.50 m. More details.
Women’s volleyball Lions top Mustangs, improve to 13-1
The York University Lions women's volleyball team rolled to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Western University Mustangs on Saturday at the Tait Mackenzie Centre.
The Mustangs would make it tough on the No. 5 nationally ranked Lions in the first couple of sets but the Lions' talent took over as the game went on to give them their 13th win of the year.
The opening set provided plenty of excitement as both teams took turns holding a slim lead. The Mustangs would go on a brief 3-0 run that put them on top by a score of 8-6, forcing York to call a timeout. The set would remain extremely competitive, but the Mustangs were the slightly better team as they held a 16-14 lead after another quick 3-0 run. More details.
As part of the weekend action, the Lions also fought their way to a 3-1 victory over the University of Windsor Lancers.
The Lions roared out of the gates looking like they were eager to start another long win streak. Outside hitters Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes asserted themselves early as they contributed both offensively and defensively to give the Lions a 7-1 lead. A Windsor timeout did nothing to slow down the Lions and they increased their lead to 10-1 before the Lancers scored their second point. More details.
Men’s hockey Lions fall to nationally-ranked Mustangs
The York University Lions men's hockey team faced a tough opponent in the nationally ranked Western University Mustangs on Saturday and suffered a 4-2 loss at Thompson Arena.
The Mustangs jumped to an early first period lead, scoring at just 4:07 of the stanza on a goal off the stick of Tyler Peters. They continued their early offence with a goal form Andrew Eastman, who found the net at 10:05. Jason Furlong assisted on the goal that gave Western the 2-0 lead.
The Lions answered with a power play goal from Jordan Forfar, who beat Mustang goalie Josh Unice at 13:14. Jordan Davies and Tyler McGee assisted on Forfar's sixth of the season. More details.
Earlier in the week, the Lions were defeated by the University of Guelph Gryphons by a final score of 4-0 on Thursday night in Guelph.
The first period saw a number of penalties called that prevented the game from getting into any kind of flow. The Lions took three consecutive penalties to give the Gryphons a two-man advantage, and although goalie Andrew Perugini stood tall, the Gryphons were able to tally what would end up being the game winner when centre Nicklas Huard fired a shot into the back of the net to make it 1-0. More details.
Women’s basketball Lions fall to nationally ranked Ravens
The York University Lions women's basketball team faced a tough opponent on Friday night in the No. 5 nationally ranked Carleton University Ravens, who went on to an 83-41 victory at the Ravens Nest in Ottawa.
Carleton opened up with a dominant first quarter, scoring an early 11-2 run on the way to an eventual 22-9 lead going into the second. York's early struggles continued into the second quarter, despite a promising early three-pointer from Erin Sarapnickas. The Ravens went on an 18-point streak only broken by a pair of free throws from Nadia Qahwash. The Lions only managed five points in the frame and went into the third facing a 42-14 deficit. More details.
The following night the Lions were defeated by the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees by a score of 66-53 at Montpetit Hall in Ottawa.
The Lions opened with a strong first quarter that featured baskets from Courtney Osborne, Cyrielle Recoura and Qahwash as York outscored the Gee-Gees 17-14 in the opening frame. However, the momentum quickly turned as the Gee-Gees racked up the points in the second quarter, outscoring the Lions 22-12 to hold a 36-29 lead at the half. More details.
No. 8 Gee-Gees too much for men’s basketball Lions
The York University Lions men's basketball team was defeated by the No. 8 nationally ranked University of Ottawa Gee-Gees by a score of 93-78 on Saturday night at Montpetit Hall in Ottawa.
The loss drops the Lions to 5-10 on the season and they remain sixth in the OUA East Division standings. The Gee-Gees, meanwhile, improved to 12-4 with the win and still sit third.
The Lions struggled to contain the powerful Gee-Gees, and their best competitive effort saw them outscored 26-16 in the first quarter. Despite offensive contributions from David Tyndale, Nick Tufegdzich and Akeem Isaac, the Lions continued to be shut down on offence in the second and finished the half trailing 44-28. More details.
Also on their trip to the nation’s capital, the Lions were defeated by a score of 102-62 by the top-ranked Carleton University Ravens. The Ravens are ranked first overall in the CIS and hold a commanding lead in the OUA East Division. After early offensive pressure from the Lions saw them gain a 7-2 lead, the Ravens went 31-5 in the rest of the quarter to establish an authoritative 33-12 lead going into the second. More details.