TORONTO — After opening the season with back-to-back wins at home, the No. 2 Ryerson Rams are set to hit the road this weekend to face off against the York Lions and the Nipissing Lakers.
A strong opening weekend campaign saw the Rams secure back-to-back wins on home court. Their dominant 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-18) performance over the Lakehead Thunderwolves in the 2019-20 season opener provided the team with a boost of confidence before the following evening's matchup against the No. 4 Toronto Varsity Blues.
The Rams would battle their way to a 3-2 (25-21, 16-25, 27-25, 19-25, 15-13) victory over Toronto in a rematch of last year's OUA championship. Toronto seemed strong on all ends of the court but the Rams played their best volleyball in tight moments and capitalized on the opportunity to win in five sets.
Fifth-year outside hitter
Brett Hagarty (Aurora, Ont.) had a huge weekend for the Rams, averaging 2.63 kills and an OUA second-best 5.13 digs per set across two matches. Sophomore setter
Lauren Wong (Scarborough, Ont.) established a new career-high in assists (50) during Saturday's win over Toronto, and several returning players capitalized on the opportunity to jump into this year's starting lineup throughout the weekend.
Looking ahead, the Rams are set to head uptown to take on the York Lions on Wednesday night before travelling north to face off against the Nipissing Lakers on Friday evening in North Bay.
The Lions have played just one game thus far this season, dropping a 3-1 (21-25, 27-25, 19-25, 17-25) contest to the Queen's Gaels last Saturday. The Rams have dominated the Ryerson-York rivalry over the last few years, winning 10 of their most recent clashes and sweeping the Lions in three of the last four. Nevertheless, the Lions are a strong defensive team and it will be crucial that the Rams attack well and keep their foot on the gas during Wednesday's matchup.
The Lakers will present a similar type of matchup on Saturday night. The team is 1-1 so far this season, taking a 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-19) win over the RMC Paladins on Saturday and dropping a 3-0 (13-25, 15-25, 20-25) game to Queen's on Sunday. The Rams have never lost a match to Nipissing in program history and will look to maintain that record this weekend as they head up to North Bay.
Wednesday's match against York will begin at 8:00 p.m. while Friday's game is set to start at 6:00 p.m. Both matches can be streamed live on OUA.tv.
