LIONS LOOKAHEAD: MEN’S VOLLEYBALL, WOMEN’S HOCKEY, TRACK & FIELD BEGIN OUA BANNER BIDS

Varsity Athletics | 2/20/2025 8:00:00 AM

At long last, the postseason is here for the York University Lions two-term sports.

Though York’s women’s volleyball and basketball teams saw their postseason dreams dashed on the season’s final weekend, the men’s volleyball and women’s hockey teams are still very much alive in their quest for OUA glory, while the track and field team will send more than four-dozen athletes to Windsor for the OUA championship.

Here’s what’s going on in the den this week:

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL 

The Lions men’s volleyball program returns to the postseason for the second time in three years, as head coach Jordan Taylor prepares to coach his first OUA post-season game. Amid some confusion surrounding York’s seeding, they are the fourth seed in the three-way tie for second place in the OUA at 15-5 between the Queen’s Gaels, Toronto Varsity Blues and the Lions. Queen’s earned the second seed with most head-to-head set victories (9), while York and Toronto finished tied for third. That tie was broken via total points scored in head-to-head matchups, with Toronto edging York 144-141. That means York will face the No. 5 seed, the Nipissing Lakers in the quarterfinals on Friday night. York comes in winners of six of their last seven games, while Nipissing enters the playoffs having won five of seven. The Lions and Lakers split a pair of games in North Bay in mid-November, with the Nipissing handing York its first defeat of the season in four sets after a 7-0 start. This game should prove to a sound, clean game, as the teams are fourth and fifth, respectively, in offensive points per set and ranked fifth and sixth in fewest total errors. A key area of separation could be the service game. While York has the third-most aces in the OUA with 112, they also commit the third-most reception errors with an even 100. The good thing for the red and white: Nipissing also struggles in this area, committing the most reception errors in the province with 112. Whichever team can hit and handle serves the best will quite possibly be the one who walks away victorious. If the Lions win, they will guarantee themselves a chance to play for a medal and a berth at the U SPORTS Championships in Brandon. They would either travel to Windsor to face the top-seeded Lancers, or, in the event of Waterloo upsetting Windsor, would host the Warriors, in the OUA semi-final on Feb. 28. First serve flies at 7:00 pm on Friday night. You can get your tickets here, or stream the match here.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY 

The women’s hockey team clinched a play-in berth on the season’s final day thanks to a Nipissing Lakers win over the Brock Badgers. That earns them the right to head to Windsor on Thursday night for the OUA West play-in, which was instituted for the first time this season. The Lions and Lancers met twice in the regular season, as all teams did. Windsor won both those games, outscoring York 8-3 in the process. However, both those games were in the first half of the year, when the Lions weren’t firing on all cylinders prior to their early-2025 hot streak. York has sputtered to the finish, though losing their final four regular season games, and only earning one point over that stretch thanks to an overtime loss vs. Toronto on Feb. 7. The thing the Lions have going for them: Emma Wedgewood. The third-year goaltender finished 10th in the OUA in goals against average (1.95) and tied for ninth in the conference in save percentage (.930). As the Lions run in 2023-24 displayed, a hot goaltender can carry a team come playoff time. While Windsor netminder Rebecca Noble finished her season fifth in goals against average (1.66) and sixth in save percentage (.938), it’s often the not the volume of saves or goals allowed, but the timing, that proves to be all the difference. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 pm. You can stream the game here. 

TRACK & FIELD

The Lions track and field team, like the women’s hockey team, will head to Windsor this weekend for the OUA championships. York is coming off a season that saw them win several podium finishes, and they will be sending 51 athletes to the OUA championships. York is looking to earn a podium placement at this year’s championships, after rounding out the top five at last year’s event on both the women’s and men’s sides. Zac Osborne, Arwin Mathivathanan, Senthuran Ponsamy, Tamarri Lindo and Janae Brown will each look to improve upon their medal placements in 2024 and build some confidence heading into the U SPORTS championships next month. Events kick off Friday morning at 9:30 am from Windsor. You can stream the championship here, and follow live results here.