The Waterloo Warriors men's volleyball team put up quite the fight on the road against one of the top teams in the OUA. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to earn a victory.

After winning the first two sets, the Warriors dropped a five-set heartbreaker to the Ryerson Rams (19-25, 20-15, 25-23, 25-14, 15-9) on Friday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto. The win moves Ryerson to 12-5 on the year, while the Warriors saw their record dropped to 5-8.

The Warriors had no answer for Ryerson's Xander Ketrzynski, as the OUA kills leader racked up an eye-popping 23 kills and 5 service aces in the match to lead the Rams. Kevin LeBreux (Cumberland/) and Nolan Spencer (Kitchener/) each had 14 for the Warriors, while Spencer added three service aces.

The Warriors might have caught the Rams off guard early on, as the hosts only registered 7 kills – along with 7 errors – on 22 total attempts in the first set. The second set was played on more even ground, but the Warriors again earned the decision by grabbing 12 of the final 17 points in the set.

But the Rams kicked it into another gear as the match wore on. After squeaking out a two-point victory in the third set, the Rams scored 10 of the first 14 points in the fourth to help send the match to a fifth and deciding set. Then, the Rams again used an early outburst to salt things away: Ryerson won six points in a seven-point span early in the fifth set to help propel them to victory.

The Warriors will now turn their attention back to their home court, as they'll welcome the Guelph Gryphons to the Physical Activities Complex on Sunday, February 10. First serve is scheduled for 6pm.