TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams men's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-20) result to the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday evening. Laurier's player of the match Cameron Wheelan had a game-high 12 kills while
Roman Kabanov tallied nine for the Rams.
Ryerson looked good early, taking an 8-5 lead into the first technical timeout of the opening set after Kabanov recorded a couple of kills and a block. The Rams would retain the three point advantage up until the second break, but a 6-1 Golden Hawk streak would switch the momentum. Wheelan then took over, hitting three kills almost consecutively to push the Rams to the brink. Although George Sakvarelidze would get one point back, Kabanov put his serve into the net, and the Rams would drop a close first set 25-23.
Some sloppy ball handling early in the second forced Ryerson Head Coach Mirek Porosa to call a timeout, calming his players as they were down 5-2. Sven Curic and Chris McLaughlin would get consecutive blocks to pull the Rams within a point, but a combination of offensive errors and timely points from Laurier found the Rams down 16-10. They could not recover from the deficit, and dropped the second set 25-16.
Laurier quickly took advantage of the opportunity to finish Ryerson off in three, and went up 4-0 thanks to two service aces from Matt Polley followed by a block and kill by OUA all-star Greg Houston. Ryerson would come back as Kabanov rallied his teammates with a couple of blocks and a kill to pull the sides even at 7-7. Ryerson took the lead at 10-8, but Laurier streaked for an 8-2 run in large part due to four kills by Derek Lapp. Down by five, the Rams would once again fight back, coming within a point of tying the contest again. However, a Polley block and another ace by Wheelan spread the advantage again. Ryerson could not recover, and fell in the third set 25-20 and surrendered the match 3-0.
Luka Milosevic was Ryerson's player of the game. He won the same honour in the Rams win on Friday against Waterloo, but unfortunately had to exit tonight's match early in the third set after landing awkwardly off a play at the net. The Toronto native finished with five points, including four kills and an ace.
The men's volleyball team end their opening weekend at 1-1, and will finish their three-game home stand against the Toronto Varsity Blues next Friday, October 29. It will be the first doubleheader this year for Ryerson, as both the men and women will take on their cross-town rivals at Kerr Hall Gym. The women's game begins at 6:00 p.m., with the men to follow at 8:00 p.m.
