The York University Lions men's volleyball team took on the Ryerson Rams in their home-opening match at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Friday. Heading into this match, both teams were undefeated but the No. 2 nationally-ranked Rams came out victorious with a 3-1 win.
The match didn't begin in the favour of the Rams. The Lions wasted no time reminding the Rams whose court they were playing on, storming their way to an early lead. At the Rams' first time out, the Lions already had a five-point lead. The Lions continued a strong offensive effort and were able to handle the Rams' attacks well. Outside hitter
Andrew Shotbolt's three services aces played a crucial role in the Lions' race to 25 points. They went on to easily win the first set 25-17.
In the second set, the Rams were the ones who got off to an early lead, with four points already on the board before the Lions were able to add their first. Things started to look up for the Lions after they won a long rally for their fifth point. Shotbolt had the kill on that point. From there the Lions continued to close the gap, coming within two points of the Rams. However, the Lions lost some steam and the Rams began to race ahead again. The Lions couldn't recover from the Rams' early offensive attacks and fell to them 25-17.
The third set started tight, with neither team holding the lead for very long. The Lions did lead 14-11 at one point, but the Rams were able to close that gap and then surpass it, leaving an air of uncertainty for the latter half of the set. Towards the end, the Rams pulled ahead to win 25-21.
The fourth set began similarly to the third. At the technical timeout, the Rams had a four-point lead over the Lions, at 16-12. The Lions were unable to regain their earlier energy and were defeated in the final set 25-19.
Shotbolt accumulated the most points for the Lions, with 16 on 12 kills and four service aces.
Tyler Covach and
Aleksander Grzegorczyk tied for most digs for the Lions at seven apiece.
Leading in points for the Rams was Brendan Kewin at 19, which comprised of 17 kills, a service ace and a solo block. Adam Anagostopoulos had eight digs, the highest number on the Rams side.
The Lions now have a 3-1 season record. Their regular-season matches will resume next Friday, Nov. 17 at 8pm when they take on the Guelph Gryphons in the Tait McKenzie main gym. The Lions will then play the Waterloo Warriors at 8pm the following night..
