By Gavin Axelrod
Coming off a five-set loss Friday night, the Rams men’s volleyball team returned to the win column in another match against the York Lions that went the distance on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
With the victory, the Rams improve to 2-6 on the year and are undefeated on home court. In the first half of the season, five of their six contests were on the road.
“After being off…it’s nice to be at home,” said Rams interim head coach Niko Rukavina. “It was just nice to see a young team be able to pull one out in a fifth set at home.”
The Rams controlled the first set, taking a convincing 17-13 lead with an emphatic kill from second-year middle Alex King. With a ruckus crowd behind them the Rams pushed the pace, taking a 20-15 lead when Jacob Walker spiked the ball and it deflected off the hands of York’s blockers.
Finally to end the set, first-year outside hitter Nicholas Hudson connected on one of his nine kills on the night. The Rams took the set 25-21 and went up 1-0 in the match.
“It went our way tonight, [but] I just think we need to keep it to three or four sets,” said Hudson. “We do feel we are a stronger team than them and it could’ve been a lot shorter game.”
While the home side made quick work of York in Saturday’s opening set, the following one was a marathon.
Facing a 17-12 deficit, third-year Omari Young led the charge for the Rams. He helped the team get within three points. However, every time the Rams found an opening, the Lions were right there to build on their lead.
An ace from Lucas Yang cut York’s growing lead to 19-17, forcing the visitors into a timeout. Yang added another ace, which put the Rams within one. Suddenly the set was getting serious.
But the Rams weren’t out of danger yet as the Lions tied things up again.
Momentum swung once more as the ball deflected off the Rams blockers and put them down 25-24. After a plethora of lead changes, the seemingly never ending second set finally culminated with York taking it 32-30.
After the back and forth action in the previous portion of the match, Saturday’s third set was much like its opener.
The Rams cruised to a 24-16 lead and with the momentum and fans on their side, looked destined to put it away.
Another forceful kill from Walker helped the Rams bounce back and put them up 2-1 in the match, while running away with the set by a score of 25-17.
“As long as you dig in with those battles and win points when it counts, you’re gonna win games,” said Hudson.
Despite regaining momentum, the Rams squandered a chance to put away the match in the fourth set. York stormed back to take it 25-20 and as the clock moved passed 10 p.m., the Rams found themselves in familiar territory.
For the second time in as many days, Saturday’s contest reached a fifth and final set. After dropping the fourth set, the Rams looked to send what was left of the crowd home happy.
With the score at 12-9 in the deciding set, victory was within reach for the home team. However, it wasn’t without a suspenseful finish as York got it back within reach when the scored shifted to 14-12 for the blue and gold.
Just as it looked like the Lions were going to make a run, an error at the visitors’ net gave the Rams the coveted 15th point.
For a team with only five veteran players, Saturday’s win could be a turning point for the group. In addition, they’ll play four of their remaining five matches at the MAC.
But in the meantime, after back-to-back five set thrillers they’re looking forward to some rest and recuperation. Rukavina added it was amazing for the team to pull out the victory after the long contest Friday and not going back downtown until late at night.
“We came in with a new mindset today and we showed what we can do.”
UP NEXT: The Rams head to the University of Toronto to take on the Varsity Blues on Feb. 18. First serve is set for 8 p.m.
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