Box Score

The Waterloo Warriors volleyball team battled the 3^rd seed Ryerson Rams on Saturday afternoon at the PAC in front of a rawkous crowd. After Waterloo won the first set, Ryerson won three straight in exciting fashion (28-26, 21-25, 33-35, 20-25). Waterloo moves to 8-5 while Ryerson improve to 9-4 on the campaign. Waterloo split with Toronto-based teams on the weekend.

Both teams opened with a 3-3 tie and it was evident this was going to be a battle of attrition. Gibson Graham (Markham) was running a very quick offence and the Warriors jumped out to a 10-7 lead after a massive kill by Zachary Doherty (Goderich) before Ryerson were forced to use a timeout. Ryerson closed the gap to 20-18 in favour of the black and gold before forcing Ryerson to use their second timeout when leading 22-19. After the Rams stole the next three points and the set was later tied 25-25, Waterloo would get 3 of the next 4 points to close out the set with a 28-26 victory.

Not much changed in the second frame and both teams opened tied at 8 points a side. Ryerson started to swing the momentum in their favour and took 6 of the next 8 points to force Head Coach Chris Lawson into a timeout with his team trailing 14-10. Ryerson led 16-13 at the technical timeout but would close the gap to 17-16 in favour of the Rams. The timeout seemed to rally the blue and white and they would sail to a 25-21 victory to knot the match at 1 set each.

Ryerson exploded out of the game in the third set with a 7-3 lead and Lawson again had to use a timeout early. Jordan McConkey (Stratford) had a solid game for the Warriors and helped get Waterloo back into the game which was pushed to 21-21. Ryerson had a slight edge with a 23-22 lead and the match went the distance when it was tied at 28-28. Both teams had opportunities at set point to steal the frame but both sides continued to concede timely service errors and were unable to close out the set. The rams would eventually win a marathon set 35-33 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

In the fourth and potentially deciding set, Trevor Coathup (Ottawa), who was getting a rare start for the Warriors, was helping out on offence when he made a spectacular diving dig that eventually would have been credited for a kill and helped Waterloo to a 6-4 lead. Ryerson would change their fortunes and force the black and gold into a timeout with a 12-8 lead. Multiple jousts at the net made for some intense individual battles but Ryerson seemed to be winning the majority and extended their lead to 18-14. Both sides would exchange points to close out the set before Ryerson won the set 25-20 and eventually the match 3-1.

Waterloo's Doherty led the way with 15 kills, 11 digs and 3 blocks while McConkey chipped in nicely with 12 kills (2^nd best percentage in the OUA), 6 blocks and 3 digs. Graham had 43 assists, 9 digs and 3 blocks while Erich Woolley (New Dundee) added to his OUA-lead in digs (2^nd in CIS) with 14 and 2 assists on the evening.

Ryerson's Lucas Coleman was dominant19 kills, 3 service aces and 6 digs while Alex Dawson had 12 kills, 5 digs and 3 blocks. Setter Adam Anagnostopoulos had a marvelous afternoon with 45 assists and 10 digs.

Waterloo will be on the road next weekend before returning home to host the Windsor Lancers and Western Mustangs, respectively which will be a huge weekend for the Warriors in the playoff push within the competitive OUA West division.