By Matt Ouellet
The Ryerson men’s volleyball team (14-5) won in four sets (22-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-15) against the Toronto Varsity Blues (4-16) at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) Friday night.
Adam Anagnostopoulos, the Rams’ usual player at the setter position, took the night off to tend to a back injury. This allowed Brett Whitley, who subbed in for Anagnostopoulos, to shine, as his 40 assists and three digs established him as the MVP of the game
“For me, Brett Whitley was the winner today. He hasn’t played a lot the second part of the season,” head coach Mirek Porosa said. “There was a lot on the edges in the first set, but when he found the rhythm and stopped the offsides, there was pretty good volleyball at times.”
The Rams had some trouble finding the court in the first set, which is where the majority of the team’s 15 service errors were committed. The Varsity Blues were able to capitalize on that, taking the set 25-19.
Ryerson was able to fight back to take the second and third set, but it was the fourth set that the Rams exhibited the level of play that the second-ranked team in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) league know they’re capable of. Ryerson took the set, and the match, with a score of 25-15.
Pirosa noted that blocks were the strongest part of Ryerson’s game, putting up 11 against Toronto’s eight. Marc Reardon led the team with five blocks, something he doesn’t take sole ownership of.
“I’m pretty happy with my performance overall. I think it was really a team effort, there was no person that was doing poorly, and everyone was excelling in their own areas,” Reardon said. “I think with that happening, everything clicked.”
Ryerson will play their last match of the season Sunday afternoon at the MAC against Waterloo.
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