The York University Lions women's volleyball team fell to the Ryerson Rams on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 16) by a score of three sets to one in front of a large and loud Lion contingent at the Tait Mackenzie Centre.

The Lions and Rams put on a show for the Lion faithful as the two teams battled in each and every set, which resulted in an emotional fourth set finish. The Lions were led in scoring by Sarah Williams (Oakville, Ont.) who finished with 15 points to go with 21 digs and 11 kills. The Rams Theanna Vernon totaled a game high in points (24), blocks (4) and Kills (16).

The first set tempered the crowd for what was to come, as the Lions marched back after going down by eight early to tie the first set 12-12. Following the Lion burst of offense, the both sides exchanged points up until the Rams capitalized on multiple Lion errors resulting in a 25-22 first set.

Playing from behind once again the Lions roared back to take the lead in the second set, but similar to the first set the Rams Veronica Livingston and Lions Cadence Currie (Scarborough, Ont.) exchanged thunderous spikes. The Rams went off for four straight kills which seemed to swing the momentum in their favor, but after multiple costly errors they allowed the Lions to pounce back into the second set. As the momentum began to shift to the Lions, the late resurgence shown by the Rams proved to be too much, as the Rams closed out the second set on a 5-0 run to win 25-20. The Rams took a two sets to none lead into the third.

The Lions were a force to be reckoned with in the third set, as the York side took an astounding lead early and never looked back. The Lions led by Cadence Currie as she dismantled the Rams defense on route to a 25-16 win.

Unfortunately for the Lions, in the fourth set the Rams continued their aggressive approach that they used in the first and second sets, and took a commanding early lead. As the Lions fell further behind on the score board the Rams intensified their defense and shut the door on any such Lion comeback. The Rams defensive wall was led by Vernon who sent back multiple Lion spike attempts. It felt as if the Rams were running away with the set up until the wall began to crack late, and Heather Setka (Winnipeg) was the source. Setka delivered a rocket of a spike over the net that went untouched by the Rams, this spike opened the flood gates which propelled the Lions to eight straight points and tied the game at 25-25. The late push by the never down and out Lions wasn't enough, as the Rams sealed the match in the fourth set with a 27-25 victory.

The Rams now are the verge of leaping into the CIS top 10 with a 7-1 record and the Lions fall to 4-6 on the 2015/2016 season. The Lions are back in action Sunday January 17^th when they travel to the University of Toronto to take on the undefeated (8-0) and CIS fourth ranked Varsity Blues at 6pm.