The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's volleyball team began their 2026-27 campaign with an exhibition match versus the York Lions, dropping the road contest in five sets on Saturday (Sept. 19) night.

Set scores in the match were 25-21, 14-25, 25-19, 16-25, 12-15.

In a true exhibition outing, the Blues saw 11 players take to the court across the five set contest inside the Tait Mackenzie Centre. First-year outside hitter Marcus Barrett led the way for Toronto with a team-high 16 points from 15 kills and one solo block. Fourth-year veteran Jack Li also reached double-digits with 13 kills and one solo block, while third-year outside hitter Iannis Toma added nine kills and one service ace. Fifth-year setter Michael Hickey paced the Blues offence with 29 assists. Defensively, third-year middle Luka Minic topped Toronto with three solo blocks, while first-year libero Jonah Dolhun recorded a team-high 12 digs.

York also featured three players in double digits, led by Chris Hoffman with 12 kills, one ace, two solo blocks and one block assists for 15.5 total points. Aidan Labossiere notched a game-high 13 assists. Gabriel Kozlow registered a team-high nine digs for the Lions.

The Varsity Blues continue their preseason schedule next traveling to face the Windsor Lancers on Friday, Oct. 2. Toronto will then host two exhibition matches hosting the Trent Excalibur on Saturday, Oct. 17 and McMaster Marauders on Friday, Oct. 23. Tickets for the home preseason contests inside the Goldring Centre - Kimel Family Field House are available at varsityblues.ca/tickets.