Box Score There are a lot of positives to take away from the Nipissing Lakers women's volleyball home opener, even if the result wasn't what they were hoping for.

The Lakers dropped the first match of the season 3-1 to the York Lions Saturday evening at the RJS Athletic Centre as the 2018-19 OUA season kicked off.

Nipissing dropped the first set, replied with a win in the second, but lost two straight in the end.

In the first set, a back and forth start to the match, the Lakers trailed 16-12 at the technical timeout.

They managed to pull the game within a few points, but trailed 23-17 late before losing 25-18 as the Lions jumped out to the lead.

Nipissing came out very strong in the second set, jumping out to an 8-4 lead and built up at 16-7 advantage at the technical timeout.

They cruised to a 25-15 victory to even the match up 1-1.

Nipissing led for much of the third set, leading 13-11 in the early portion of the set and held a 16-12 lead at the technical timeout.

York pushed back and the game was tied 20-20 late before the Lions pulled away, squeaking out a 25-22 win to go ahead 2-1.

In the fourth set, which turned out to be the final one, the Lions were in control, leading 16-7 at the technical timeout and cruising to a 25-9 win as Nipissing struggled to capture any momentum.

Madison Murphy had a big opener, recording 9.5 points, while Shannon Lebreux and Cassie Dobson each added 7.5 points versus York. 

The Lakers will look to bounce back next weekend when they host their second of three straight home matches.

The visitors will be the Trent Excalibur and match time is set for 3pm.