While it may not have been a must-win match, Sunday's contest was certainly a huge showdown for the Nipissing Lakers women's volleyball team.

The Lakers hosted the York Lions, the team directly ahead of them as both teams look to secure a playoff spot in the OUA East Division.

Entering the day, the Lakers were six points behind York, but were unable to close the gap, losing 3-1 (18-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-14).

In the opening set, Nipissing came out flying, grabbing an early 6-1 lead and controlling the pace early on.

York replied and closed the gap, however, Nipissing led 16-9 at the technical timeout.

Nipissing held off the Lions push late in the set and claimed a 25-18 victory to go up 1-0 in the match.

The second set was similar, but it was the Lions were the ones in control for the most part.

They led 7-4 early on and 16-7 at the technical timeout, but Nipissing fought back late in the set.

Down 22-10, the Lakers stormed back and outscored York 9-3 down the stretch, but they ran out time as the Lions claimed the set.

Tied 1-1, the third set provided some drama.

York grabbed an early 7-6 lead and held a 16-12 advantage at the mid-set break.

They pushed their lead to 20-16, but the Lakers refused to go away and pushed back and the score sat at 23-21 Lions late in the set.

The teams traded points, but the Lions held on to win 25-23 and go up 2-1 in the match.

In the fourth set, another strong start propelled the Lions to a lead – this time, 7-3.

They bumped that up to 16-7 at the technical timeout, as they tried to close out the match.

Nipissing refused to quit and put pressure on the Lions, but York was able to weather the storm and move ahead 20-11.

They kept the Lakers at bay and claimed the fourth set 25-14.

Shayla Kessler led the way for the Lakers with 12.5 points, while Madison Murphy added 11 and Averi Bodnar had 10.5 in today's contest.  

The Lakers fought for the entire match, but weren't able to pick up the victory over a talented Lions program.

Next up, Nipissing will host Waterloo on Sunday, Jan. 26 at Noon in a re-schedule match.