Lions swept by Lancers to open new year

Friday night marked the first match back after a long break in the season, and the first of the new year for the Lions, the Lions looked to get off to a fresh start in the second half of their 2025-26 campaign and get back in the win column.

To open the first set, York went down 9-3 early, and attempted to claw back, but the Lancers were overwhelming early. Yulia Glazko was active for the Lions, adding 2 kills and 2 service aces in the set, but the Lions were still unable to string together consistent points. Although the number of kills in the set were close, (York 11, Windsor 10), attack errors were the spot of difference in the set, the Lancers having only 3 compared to the Lions 10. Windsor took the first set by a score of 25-18 to go up 1-0 in the match.

York recovered and stormed out to a 6-1 lead in the second set, boosted by strong kills from Madison McRae and Glazko. The Lancers came out of a timeout and tied it back up at 11-11, and then went on a 4-0 run to force a Lions timeout. However, the Lions came back out swinging, with kills from Victoria Herrington and back-to-back service aces by Mcrae. A kill by Alexis Miller knotted it at 19-19, and a back-and-forth sequence ended with Windsor being the ones able to finish the close set, edging out the Lions 25-23 to go up 2-0 in the match.

The Lancers opened the third with a 11-5 lead, and a large 15-7 lead forced an early Lions timeout. With York struggling to get much going on offence, aside from Herrington breaking into double digit kills with 10, the Lancers built on their momentum and maintained a dominant set. Windsor ultimately took a 25-14 win to finish the 3-0 sweep of the Lions.

LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions will return to Windsor's home court tomorrow evening on January 10th, 2026, hoping for a better result. With the match time set for 1:00pm, coverage will be available on OUA TV.