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Rams cruise without Livingston

By Michael Grace-Dacsota

Ryerson’s women’s volleyball team snapped their two-game losing streak by easily defeating the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 24-8) Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Outsider hitter Emily Nicholishen had another strong all around game for the Rams recording a game-high 10 kills to go along with 12 digs. Kristina Vlcek had nine kills for the Rams.

Sisters Mallory and Chelsey he Litjens lead RMC offensive and defensively in the losing effort. Chelsey led her team in kills and digs with eight and 11. Mallory was second in the team in both categories with seven kills and eight digs.

Middle Meghan Pratt had a huge second set for the Rams as she scored all seven of her kills in the frame.

“I was really relaxed going,” said Pratt. “I just played the way that I normally can.”

The Rams kept their foot on RMC’s neck in the third set crushing them 24-8.

“Great to see us play so well,” said Reid. “We played very well last night and didn’t have a lot to show for the quality of play.”

Saturday night’s game was the last of the fall semester for the Rams. The Rams won’t return to action until January 11 for a game at York and won’t play another home game until January 19 against Ottawa.

Rams head coach Dustin Reid said the team’s goal for the first half of the season was just staying in the playoff race as they’ve had a lot of different starting lineups and players changing roles in the first half of the season.

Reid said he hopes to have a consistent starting lineup in the second half of the season but is unsure who will be on that lineup.

“Your guess is as good as mine at this point,” said Reid. “It’s not necessarily going to be the lineup that has the most talent. We need a lineup that plays together [and] that plays with spirit.”

Reid also emphasized working on their defense, particularly on their side-out game. He believes that if the team can improve in those areas they can compete with anybody.

For now though, the team is just enjoying the win.

“It was a really good game, we had really good runs all the time,” said Pratt. “It was just perfect so it was a good way to end [the first half of the season].”

The Rams were without their leader scorer, outside hitter Veronica Livingston, due to an injury she suffered in Friday night’s match. Reid said Livingston is experiencing pain in her left shin related to shin splints but the team is unsure of the exact nature of the injury.

Livingston will see a doctor on Monday.

“[Livingston] is our best player,” said Reid. “She’s a tremendous kid [losing her] hurts but I have no concerns about our team.”

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