Varsity Athletics | 1/16/2025 10:00:00 AM
After a pair of light weekends to kick off 2025, varsity action is back in full force for the York University Lions as the volleyball teams play their first games of 2025.
All six Lions league sport teams are in action for the first time in the new year, with track and field and wrestling also ramping up toward the OUA championships next month.
The Lions hockey and basketball teams all split a pair of games last week. The men’s team kicked off the week by winning at Waterloo last Wednesday before falling to Western on Thursday. The women’s team also won its first game of the weekend at Queen’s, before a 2-1 loss to Ontario Tech in a game in which they likely deserved a better fate. Meanwhile, the Lions basketball teams both lost to Brock last Wednesday before rebounding nicely with solid wins over Toronto on Saturday.
Here’s what’s going on in the den this week:
MEN’S HOCKEY
The Lions men’s hockey team kicks off the week on Thursday at Brock, battling the Badgers. York will look for its second win in three games to kick off 2025 against a Badgers team that sits 7th in the OUA West entering play, three points out of a playoff spot at 7-9-2. They will then have a few days to recover before a Sunday matinee on home ice against the RMC Paladins in the third annual Colt’s Crusade game. The game features a ceremonial puck drop with para hockey player Colton Hagarty, and will also feature an intermission para hockey game featuring local youth players. Additionally, Hagarty will read out the starting lineup in the Lions dressing room pre-game. To read more on Colt’s Crusade, its impact and how it came to be, click here. The Lions will look to avenge an opening-night loss to RMC back on Oct. 4 – the Paladins only win of the year. With at least one win this weekend, the Lions will surpass their win total from the 2023-24 season. Thursday’s game at Brock begins at 6:00 pm, while Sunday’s game is set for 12:00 pm. You can get tickets for Sunday’s game here and stream both games here.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
The Lions women’s volleyball team welcomes in the Nipissing Lakers this weekend for a pair of matches to begin its 2025 schedule. These will be big games for York, which currently sits ninth in the OUA standings. While that would have been good enough for a playoff berth a season ago, the OUA has reduced the playoff field from nine back down to eight. The Lions, currently at 4-6, are tied for the eighth spot with Toronto – one of the Lions three non-combatants this season. However, a pair of wins over the 5-5 Lakers could vault them past the Lakers and into the playoffs, perhaps even as high as the 7 seed dependant on Toronto’s results at Ottawa. With two wins over Nipissing, York will match its win total from a season ago with eight matches remaining on their schedule. First serve flies Friday at 6:00 pm, with Saturday’s game starting at 4:00 pm from Tait McKenzie Centre. Saturday’s match is Next Gen night, with free entry permitted if wearing OVA club gear or with a donation to the Cold Wear Drive. Tickets for the weekend can be purchased here while you can stream both matches here.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
The Lions men’s team opens up the winter term against their downtown rivals, the Toronto Varsity Blues this weekend. The beginning of the winter semester sees the return of veteran setter Jasraj Nijjar, who missed the entire fall term. He will give the Lions offence a boost as the team continues its fight for top spot in the OUA and a chance to host games throughout the OUA playoffs. The red and white are currently tied in the loss column with Windsor at 8-2, the Lancers leading by virtue of two extra wins. If York and Queen’s finish tied, the Lions will have the tiebreaker over Queen’s thanks to more set victories in head-to-head competition after the teams split a pair of matches in late November with Queen’s winning the opener in five and York winning the back half in four. Toronto comes in fifth in the OUA at 6-4 but far from comfortably in the playoffs in what is a logjam at the bottom of the playoff picture. Friday’s game gets going at 8:00 pm with the second half of Next Gen night Saturday night beginning at 6:00 pm. Tickets for the weekend can be purchased here while you can stream both matches here.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
The Lions women’s hockey team closes a three-game road swing Friday night at Nipissing in their first trip to North Bay Memorial Gardens since stunning the Lakers in Game 1 of the 2024 OUA quarter-final. That game, a 1-0 overtime win on a goal by now-alum Sydney Paulson, was the catalyst in arguably the biggest upset in OUA women’s hockey playoff history, with 46 points separating the two teams in the standings. Now, 10-and-a-half months later, the Lions face another solid Nipissing team while looking to inch their way back into this year’s playoff picture, currently sitting eight points behind Laurier for the fourth and final playoff spot in the OUA West. Then, on Sunday, the Lions return home to host the Ottawa Gee-Gees in their first game ever at Canlan Ice Sports in what is Ottawa’s first season in the OUA after previously playing in the RSEQ. The Gee-Gees come in second in the OUA East with a record of 9-4-1-3, providing the opposition in the second of what will be two tough tests this weekend for York. Friday’s game begins at 6:00 pm with Sunday’s puck drop slated for 4:00 pm. Tickets for Sunday’s game can be purchased here while both games can be streamed here.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
The Lions women’s basketball team continues its push for the playoffs after an important win over the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday. They will conclude their four-game road trip to begin 2025 (five games overall) with a trip to Southwestern Ontario for a pair of games this weekend to face a pair of 9-4 teams. That begins in Windsor on Friday night in Windsor against the Lancers, who have a solid, well-rounded team. They sit fifth in points for per game and sixth in points against per game. The Lions then face Western in London on Saturday night, another strong test for the up-and-coming Lions. Western is also a good offensive team, sitting sixth in points per game. However, they have been succceptible defensively, currently ranked 12th in the OUA in points against. Both games begin at 6:00 pm, and are available to be streamed here.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
The men’s basketball team looks to build off its third win of the year last Saturday at Toronto against the top two teams in the OUA West in Windsor and Western. They begin against Windsor on Friday before wandering off to Western on Saturday night, and while facing the top two seeds in the division may sound ominous for this young York squad, the West is a relatively weak division this season, with no one more than a game above the .500 mark. The Mustangs lead the division with a 7-6 record, while Windsor is second with an inverted 6-7 mark thus far. While it certainly won’t be easy for York, there is room for the Lions to perhaps take at least one of these games. And if they do, these games could pontentially serve as the launching point for a late-season surge. Both this weekend’s tilts begin at 8:00 pm, with streaming available for both here.
TRACK & FIELD
The majority of the Lions track and field team will head back downtown to compete in the Fred Foot Classic on Friday and Saturday at Toronto. Meanwhile, the York throwers will join the basketball teams in London on Saturday as they compete in the Don Wright Team Challenge at Western. The Lions men’s team was ranked in the U SPORTS Top 10 this week, slotting in at No. 9, after what has been a great start to the year. The program overall is coming off a week in which two U SPORTS standards were achieved along with 29 OUA standards and five podiums at the Can-Am Classic in Windsor last weekend.
WRESTLING
The Lions wrestling team is off to Guelph on Sunday to compete in the Guelph Open. Men’s rookie Ali Dahcha enters the meet as the reigning York men’s athlete of the week after winning the bronze medal in the 90kg weightclass at last week’s Brock Open. The Lions have been a competitive team thus far in 2024-25, and will look to win a medal for the fifth time in six meets thus far.