By Matt Ouellet
The Ryerson men’s volleyball team (4-2) lost in three straight sets (19-25, 19-25, 13-25) to the McMaster Marauders (7-0) Sunday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Coming into the game, head coach Dustin Reid knew the Rams were in for a challenge against the team currently ranked number one in Canada. On top of that, Ryerson hasn’t won a game against McMaster since 2011.
The first five points of the first set went back and forth between the two teams, before the Marauders finally grabbed control with three points in a row. While the eight service errors the Marauders committed could have left the door open for the Rams to take control, McMaster was just too strong to let opponents get to them that easily.
“When teams like McMaster are going for a lot in their serving and attacking, and they happen to be missing, on one hand, it’s giving you points, and you’re looking good on the scoreboard.” Reid said. “On the other hand, you’re not touching the ball, so it’s difficult to build a lot of rhythm and confidence on our own side.”
Ryerson opened the scoring in the third set, but the situation quickly changed from there. After Ryerson lead 2-1, McMaster then scored nine straight points, dominating through middle hitter Danny Demyanko’s impenetrable performance at the net. The streak was only broken by a kill from Uchenna Ofhoa that hit opposing libero Pawel Jedrzejewski right in the face.
While Reid isn’t happy about coming out of this weekend with two losses, he’s not too worried about the team losing steam for the rest of the season.
“We have four more really important games left this semester. I like our chances of rebounding and playing well next week and getting back to focusing on the things that are our strengths, and I think that’s when we’ll show if we’ve overcome it or not to be honest,” Reid said.
Ryerson will play the York Lions next at home on Friday, Nov. 20.
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