TORONTO — The newly ranked No. 1 Ryerson Rams would drop the third of a four-set contest to the visiting RMC Paladins, rounding out an energetic 3-1 (25-15, 25-16, 24-26, 25-16) win on Friday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto. 

Leading the way for Ryerson was fourth-year captain Cailin Wark (Georgetown, Ont.), who finished the game with 20 kills, five service aces, five blocks and a career-high 27.5 points. 

Ryerson opened the match with a 5-1 lead, capitalizing on the strong serving of Wark. The Rams pulled ahead 16-5 at the first technical, but RMC would do their best to bring the set back within reach. It was far too late for the Paladins, though, as the Rams capped off the first set with a 25-15 win. 

The Rams took their foot off the gas a bit too early in the second set, pushed to the brink by the Paladins to keep the game square around the nine-point mark. Ryerson played their best volleyball of the set after the technical, pulling away with a 25-16 win in the second. 

RMC had a phenomenal third set, edging out the top-ranked team in the country by a narrow two-point margin. The Paladins would dish out two errors in comparison to Ryerson's seven, hitting at .289 percent throughout the third. Ryerson's Wark went on a run of her own in the tail end of the set, tallying four consecutive kills to bring the score back within reach for her Rams. The Paladins eventually pulled out a 27-25 win in the third, cutting Ryerson's lead to one and sending the game into a fourth set to avoid the sweep. 

The Rams managed to find their footing again in the fourth set, pulling out an expected 25-16 win to seal the deal in four. 

"At times we played quite well, but at times I wasn't convinced we wanted the ball to come to us," said head coach Dustin Reid on the performance. "When RMC started playing a bit better, I expected us to respond with a bit more intensity and more confidence. And we didn't tonight." 

Fourth-year outside hitter Lauren Veltman (Brampton, Ont.) made her return to the court on Friday against RMC after missing the first six games with an injury, tallying her 500th career kill in the win over the Paladins. Veltman finished the game with ten kills, five digs and two service aces. 

"When the [announcer] said my number, I was pretty giddy," says Veltman on her excitement to hit the court in her 2019-20 season debut. "I was working hard to get back into it [...] I'm pretty excited to keep rolling and see how the season goes."

Two first-year Rams made their Ryerson debut against RMC; middle blocker Britney Veltman (Brampton, Ont.) totalled five blocks in four sets, while setter Alli Pauls (Winnipeg, Man.) finished the match with 47 assists.

The Rams will enjoy the rest of their weekend off before heading across town next Friday to take on the No. 5 Toronto Varsity Blues at the Goldring Centre.