By Matt Ouellet
- Rams eliminated from national tournament contention
- Ryerson’s Lucas Coleman has match-high 17 kills
- Rams will play Guelph for bronze on March 11
Ryerson’s men’s volleyball team lost their OUA semi-final match in straight sets on Friday night, falling 3-0 (25-17, 28-26, 25-19) to the McMaster Marauders at the David Braley Athletic Centre in Hamilton. With the loss, the Rams fail to qualify for the national tournament after making their first-ever appearance there last season.
Lucas Coleman, who was named player of the game for Ryerson, led the team’s offence with match-high 17 kills.
The Marauders were undefeated in the regular season, and this game was no exception, as Ryerson had difficulty gaining the upper hand throughout the night.
The Marauders came out strong in the first set, overpowering the Rams by the first technical timeout 16-10. The Rams tried to fight back, but lost 25-17.
The second set had Ryerson down early on, but some clutch offense from Uchenna Ofoha and Coleman kept them in the game and gradually whittled down their deficit until the set was tied at 23. While Taylor Jordan and Will Otten provided some great defensive work, finishing the night with seven digs a piece to keep them in it, service errors got the best of the Rams as they lost 28-26.
Ryerson won the first two points of the third set but were unable to gain any traction. Trailing 16-13 at the technical timeout, they would go on to lose the set 25-19.
While McMaster goes on to play for gold against the Waterloo Warriors at 8 p.m. on Saturday night at the David Braley Athletic Centre, Ryerson will face the Guelph Gryphons for the OUA bronze at 5:30 p.m. In their only meeting of the season on Feb. 17, the Rams defeated the Gryphons in straight sets.
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