By Daniel Rocchi
- Rams improve to 8-1 in 2017
- Veronica Livingston has match-high 18 kills in last regular season home game of Ryerson career
- Warriors record .083 hitting percentage to Ryerson’s .270
Ryerson’s women’s volleyball team swept the Waterloo Warriors with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-9, 25-21) win in their final home game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The Rams improve to 14-4 with the win and 8-1 in 2017. With one game remaining and more than two points separating them from the teams immediately above and below them in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) standings, Ryerson will finish the regular season as the second seed in the OUA East behind Toronto.
Playing in the last regular season home game of her Ryerson career, Veronica Livingston had one of her best-ever performances with a match-high 18 kills. It ties several performances—including a few of her own—for the eighth-most kills in a single match in Ryerson women’s volleyball history.
Cailin Wark added six kills and eight digs while setter Kate McIlmoyle finished with 34 assists.
Livingston and the Rams got off to a shaky start in the first set. After Ryerson surrendered the opening point of the match, the fifth-year outside hitter made an attacking error to put the Rams down by a pair before rebounding with her first kill of the night on the following play. Neither team managed to score more than two consecutive points before Ryerson strung together a 3-0 run on two Warriors attacking errors and a Christine Yan kill to make it 12-11 Waterloo.
Tied 21-21, the Warriors committed two attacking errors and a service errors over the course of four rallies as Ryerson ended the set on a 4-0 run.
After a slow start in the first, a pair of Livingston kills combined with three straight Waterloo attacking errors helped the Rams roar out to a 6-0 lead to start the second. Leading 16-8 at the technical timeout, Ryerson used three more kills from Livingston and back-to-back service aces from Yan to cruise to a 25-9 second set win.
Needing a win in the third to avoid the sweep, the Warriors used a vocal bench and strong performances from middle blocker Casey Clunas and outside hitter Claire Mackenzie to edge out a 16-15 lead at the technical timeout. The teams traded points before a Livingston kill followed by a Mackenzie attack error forced a Waterloo timeout with the visitors down 20-19. Livingston, Yan and Theanna Vernon all had kills in the last six plays before Yan sealed the victory with her sixth kill of the match.
UP NEXT: The Rams wrap up their regular season on the road against Lakehead on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. before turning their attention to the OUA playoffs.
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