TORONTO – The No. 10 Ryerson Rams men's volleyball team got by the Western Mustangs 3-1 (25-16, 27-25, 24-26, 25-16) in the OUA quarter-final to advance to the OUA Final Four championship next weekend in Hamilton.
BOXSCORE
Third year hitter Lucas Coleman (Brooklin, Ont.) had a game-high 21 kills to pace the Rams while Rob Wojcik (Whitby, Ont.) added 16 kills and five service aces and Alex Dawson (Scarborough, Ont.) finished with ten kills in the win.
“We want to win that semifinal and go to nationals…at this point it doesn't matter (who we play),” said Coleman following the game. “We can talk about the skills and all that but for us it's just sticking together. I think we have the players we need to win.”
Ryerson's offence got off to a strong start as they took advantage of some Western miscues. The Rams scored for 12 kills and hit 42.1% while limiting the Mustangs to five kills and a hitting percentage of zero in the first set. Ryerson led 16-10 at the technical timeout and a Wojcik kill ended the set at 25-16 to give the Rams a 1-0 lead.
In the second the Rams led 16-13 at the break and led by as many as five at 22-17 but the Mustangs mounted a late rally and tied the set at 24-24. After tying the set, Western couldn't close for a victory and committed two late attack errors which, combined with a double block from Rams Marc Reardon (London, Ont.) and Adam Anagnostopoulos (Waterloo, Ont.), Ryerson took the set 27-25 to own a 2-0 match lead.
Ryerson led once again at the third set technical by a 16-14 advantage but, with their season in the balance, the Mustangs rallied and went on a 5-0 run to take a 19-16 lead. Western continued to lead by three at 22-19 before the Rams tied it up at 22-22. After being tied at 24-24, the Mustangs got back to back kills from Bryn Ramsay and Doug Austrom to win it 26-24 and extend the match.
In the fourth, Ryerson led 16-14 at the technical timeout and extended the lead to four at 19-15 before Wojcik stepped to the service line. He added three aces and served for five straight points to extend Ryerson's lead to 24-15 and put the game out of reach. Lucas Coleman finished the game off with a kill from the left side as the Rams took the fourth set 25-16 to advance to the Final Four.
“I want to give a shoutout to our two middles because Western was all over them…and they weren't able to get into their rhythm but they made things easier for everyone else,” said Reid following the game. “They sacrificed a lot but that's what we need; people need to make sacrifices to help the team succeed.”
Western's Bryn Ramsay had a team-high 13 kills in the losing effort while Evan Crenshaw added 12 kills.
Ryerson will now advance to face the Queen's Gaels in the OUA semifinal this week in Hamilton. Stay tuned to ryersonrams.ca for more playoff information throughout the week.
