Rookie outside Zachary Doherty (Goderich/) had a team-high eight kills, while Jordan Dyck (St. Catharines/) picked up nine points, and the Waterloo Warriors claimed a 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-16, 23-25) victory over the Ryerson Rams men's volleyball team at Kerr Hall Gym on Saturday afternoon.

The Rams (2-10) are tied for second-last in the OUA with Toronto, while the Warriors (8-7) move closer to a playoff berth with the win, currently sitting in sixth place.

Luka Milosevic (Toronto) recorded a game-high 17 kills and Alex Dawson added 14 for the Rams.

Cameron Wheelan (Barrie/) picked up an early kill while James Evans (Rockwood/Warriors) tallied an ace, and the Warriors took a commanding 8-2 lead in the opening set. Roman Kabanov (Toronto) had his dig find the backcourt as the Rams attempted to get back in the set, but two more points from the Warriors maintained the healthy advantage.

Stefan Ristic (Belgrade, Serbia) hit back-to-back kills, and the Rams pulled a bit closer to Waterloo, down 16-12 at the technical. However, three straight errors coming out of the break helped the Warriors break away. James Evans (Rockwood/Warriors) and Tyler Motherwell (Toronto/Warriors) each tallied a kill late in the set, and Dawson put his serve into the net to give Waterloo a 1-0 match lead.

Kills by Ristic and Dawson (Scarborough, Ont.) gave the hosts an early 7-4 lead in the second, but Waterloo responded to notch the set at 9-9. An ace by Kabanov put Ryerson up by two once again. Back-to-back blocks from the Rams put them up 16-12 at the technical timeout. Milosevic tallied back-to-back kills, and an error from the Warriors extended the lead to five for Ryerson.

London, Ont. native Marc Reardon's kill from the middle gave the men a set-point, and they made good as Milosevic found the open court to even the match at 1-1. This broke a streak of 12 straight set losses for the men over the course of four matches.

Ristic opened the third with an ace, but the Warriors streak for five straight points soon after, leading Porosa to call a timeout. The Rams fought back through the middle portion of the set, coming within one of Waterloo at 12-11.

Two blocks in a row from Doherty restored a four-point Warriors lead at the technical. Some miscommunication by the Rams led to another point for Waterloo, and Porosa took a timeout to regroup the men down 18-13.

However, Doherty had an ace right after the timeout to continue increasing the lead, and the Warriors would not look back, taking the third set over Ryerson and a 2-1 lead in the contest.

The squads traded leads in the early going of the fourth set, with the hosts grabbing two straight points to go up 12-10 when Waterloo called its first timeout. Kabanov tallied a kill, and Ryerson spread the lead to four going into the technical break.

The men held the advantage as the teams exchanged points over the next few plays. However, a block from Wheelan pulled the Warriors to within one, and they evened the set at 21-21. Wheelan grazed the line with a kill, and Waterloo pulled in front, erasing a once five-point deficit.

The momentum swung away from the Rams, as Kabanov was blocked to spread the lead to two. However, the men came back to even the game at 23-23.
Wheelan touched the ball over the Rams blockers on the next point, and Dyck stymied an attempted kill to clinch the set and the match for Waterloo.

The men return home to the PAC for three straight home games to close out their regular season with hopes of winning two of three to push for a post-season berth.  Waterloo is 4-2 at home this season.