The York Lions men’s volleyball team look to improve on their 6-3 record this weekend when they play host to the visiting Waterloo Warriors and Laurier Golden Hawks. Over the past few years, the Lions have dominated both the Warriors and Golden Hawks. Since the 2002-2003 season, the Lions have won eight of nine matches against Waterloo and hold an unbeaten 9-0 record against Laurier. Earlier this season, York earned a pair of road wins over Laurier, 3-1, and Waterloo, 3-0. The game time for the meeting with Waterloo is 2pm at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Saturday, Nov. 25, while the game with Laurier is set for 2pm on Sunday, Nov. 26. Last week, the Lions picked up a split at home, falling to the defending Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champion Queen’s Golden Gaels, 3-0, before rebounding with a 3-1 victory over RMC. In the meeting with the RMC Paladins, middle Ryan Anderson led all players with 25 kills.
The women’s volleyball team is off to the nation’s capital for a single game this week against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. The Lions will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak against Ottawa, including last year’s 3-2 setback in the OUA quarterfinal game. This past week, the team improved to 3-1 at home and 6-3 on the year after defeating Queen’s and RMC on the weekend. Fifth-year outside hitter Elizabeth Salas led the team to a 3-1 victory over the Golden Gaels on Saturday, registering a game-high 20 kills. The following afternoon, the team used a balanced attack to down the Paladins 3-0.
On the hardwood, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams went perfect on the weekend, defeating the visiting Laurier Golden Hawks and Waterloo Warriors. For the women’s team, Laura MacCallum (left) put forth a tremendous effort, leading the squad in scoring in both victories. The third-year guard was named this week’s Female Athlete of the Week after scoring a game-high 20 points and seven rebounds in a 55-38 win over Golden Hawks, and 19 points and seven steals in a 62-42 victory over the Warriors.
On the men’s side, Daniel Eves (right) earned Athlete of the Week honours after helping the Lions win their first two games of the season at home. In Friday’s 80-63 win over Laurier, the fifth-year forward posted solid numbers, scoring 19 points, while adding eight rebounds and a game-high seven assists. On Saturday, Eves again contributed with a well-rounded performance, registering 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in an 83-74 win over Waterloo. This week, the Lions head out on the road for games against Lakehead on Friday and McMaster on Saturday.
On the ice, the Lions men’s hockey team returns to the Canlan Ice Sports arena at York this Thursday for a date with the Brock Badgers. This will be the first of four meetings with the Badgers this season. Last year, the Badgers took three of four meetings against the Lions. The opening face-off is scheduled for 7:30pm. Last week, the Lions dropped a pair of games against Far East opponents. On Friday, the team fell a goal short of the No. 6-ranked UQTR Patriots, 3-2. The following afternoon, the host Concordia Stingers doubled the Lions by a 6-3 score.
The Lions women’s hockey team dropped a pair of close contests last week against the streaking Guelph Gryphons and Western Mustangs. On Friday, the visiting Gryphons extended their undefeated streak to seven games with a 3-1 victory over the Lions. On Sunday afternoon, the Mustangs edged out a 2-1 win at home over York. This week, the Lions travel to Kingston for a pair of games against the No. 4-ranked Queen’s Golden Gaels. Last season, the Gaels took two of three meetings from the Lions.
The Lions men’s and women’s water polo teams are off to the OUA Final Four this weekend. The men’s team wrapped up the regular season with a 19-5 loss to the McMaster Marauders last Friday. Ryan Forde scored twice in a losing effort for the Lions. York will look to upset the top-seeded Toronto Varsity Blues this Saturday in the OUA semifinal. After opening the season with a 20-11 loss to the Blues, the Lions responded with a closer result, albeit a loss, 9-6 late in the regular season against Toronto.
The women’s water polo team ended the regular season on a high note, posting a 13-1 victory over their cross-town rival Toronto Varsity Blues. Julie Csikos led the Lions with five goals in the contest. This Saturday, the team travels to Queen’s for their OUA semifinal meeting with the top-seeded McMaster Marauders. York dropped two previous meetings against McMaster this year, with the most recent game finishing in a 12-9 win for the Marauders.
The Lions badminton team wrapped up the season this past week at the OUA Championship, finishing fourth overall. In the semifinal against the eventual OUA champion Western Mustangs, the trio of Aiden Lim, Yearnney Tam and Will Chow swept the three men’s singles matches, but that was not enough as York fell 9-4 to Western. In the bronze medal game, Lim and Tam again won their singles matches, but the squad lost 10-3 to Toronto. In recognition of their fine season, both Lim and Tam were named OUA all-stars.
This article was submitted to YFile by Steven Reid, sport & recreation information assistant in York’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health.