NORTH BAY, Ont. – The No. 2 ranked Ryerson Rams women's volleyball team survived a scared from the Nipissing Lakers on Friday night, falling behind 1-0 but coming back to win 3-1 for their fourth straight victory.

Leading the Rams offence was Cailin Wark (Georgetown, Ont.) with 17 kills and 20 total points. Brett Hagarty (Aurora, Ont.) also finished in double digits with 11 kills and 15 digs. Setter Lauren Wong (Scarborough, Ont.) finished with 40 assists and an impressive nine service aces.

Ryerson looked to be in control in the opening set, leading 16-10 at the technical timeout and seeing their lead grow to as many as eight at 20-12. Cue the Nipissing comeback – the first of many on the night. 

The Lakers went on a four-point run to cut the lead down to four and forcing the first Rams timeout. Nipissing continued their run and closed to within one at 20-19 before Lauren Wong and Lindsay Kleuskens (London, Ont.) finally stopped the bleeding with a block.

Despite the run-stopping play, the Lakers were determined to finish their efforts and they rallied again to tie the set at 22-22. After the teams exchanged points, Nipissing was finally able to close out the comeback after a back row attack hit the top of the net and landed on the Rams side, followed by a Ryerson attack long out the back of the baseline. Nipissing claimed the set, 28-26.

With the momentum on their side, the Lakers came out firing in the second set and opened up a 9-3 lead. Ryerson chipped away at the deficit but the home squad maintained their lead at the technical timeout, up 16-13.

It was the Rams turn to complete the comeback, as Kelly Schaefer (Uxbridge, Ont.) turned it on late in the set to help Ryerson win eight of the set's final nine points. Trailing 21-17, Schaefer and Cailin Wark combined for three kills and two aces to take the lead, 22-21. After a Nipissing kill, Schaefer scored once more to hold a 23-22 advantage.

With Schaefer serving, head coach Dustin Reid opted to substitute Jasmine Rivest (Montreal, Que.) in for setter Wong, and the move immediately paid off. Rivest and Kleuskens combined for a block to give Ryerson some breathing room at 24-22 before Schaefer finished the job with an ace to take the set 25-22 and tie the match at 1-1. 

The third set was all Ryerson, as they opened with a 6-1 advantage before building on that to lead 16-10 at the technical. Ryerson won nine of the next 11 points to cruise to a 25-12 set win to take a 2-1 lead overall.

The fourth was tight through the early stages until Nipissing managed to build a four point advantage heading into the technical timeout. The Lakers added to their lead to gain a 21-14 edge before Ryerson turned up the intensity.

Ryerson went on a three point run, including two Wark kills, to cut the deficit to 21-17 and force Nipissing into taking their final timeout. The experienced Rams didn't rush their game and let the Lakers make some mistakes under pressure. Ryerson kept inching closer until finally tying the score at 24-24 thanks to a Kleuskens ace. 

Without a timeout to curb Ryerson's momentum, the Lakers next attack went right into a Wong and Grasman double block to give the Rams a 25-24 edge, before Brett Hagarty finished the comeback off with a kill.

Ryerson outhit Nipissing, registering 56 kills on the night compared to 37 from the Lakers. 

The Rams improve to 4-0 to start the season and are back in action next weekend when they travel to Guelph to play the Gryphons on November 8th at 6:00 p.m.