TORONTO —  The No. 4 Ryerson Rams are set to hit the road this weekend for their first road trip of second semester, heading west to take on the McMaster Marauders and the No. 7 Brock Badgers. 

After a heartbreaking 3-2 (21-25, 25-16, 25-16, 22-25, 16-18) loss to the Western Mustangs last Friday, the Rams will look to prove themselves this weekend against two of the top three teams in the OUA west. The team rounded out their weekend with a 3-1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-18) win against Windsor to officially kick off their second-semester campaign.

Despite Friday's gloomy results, Lauren Veltman (Brampton, Ont.) has been stellar to open the year. The fourth-year outside hitter averaged 3.56 kills and 2.89 digs per set across the last two games and will likely be relied upon this weekend to produce similar results as the Rams prepare to face two difficult opponents in McMaster and Brock. 

Friday night sees the Rams make their way to Hamilton to take on McMaster at 6:00 p.m. in Burridge Gymnasium. McMaster's 6-4 record ranks them third in the OUA West, sitting just two games back of the first-ranked Mustangs. The Rams haven't dropped a match to the Marauders since 2017, but don't be fooled by Ryerson's recent record —  McMaster has stolen wins from several impressive opponents this season, most recently topping No. 10 Waterloo on home court. It'll likely be a close game, and the Rams will need to work on their ball control and serve receive to return to mid-season form and take a win against McMaster. 

Sunday afternoon brings an even more difficult matchup, as the Rams are set to face the No. 7 ranked Badgers at 2:00 p.m. at the Bob Davis Gymnasium in St. Catharines. Brock has dominated the OUA this season, dropping just two matches to No. 3 Toronto and No. 10 Waterloo back in November. Fifth-year outside hitter Lauren Condotta leads the league with 3.93 kills per set through nine matches and has been headlining the Badgers' elite attack. Ryerson and Brock share extremely similar season-long statistics and tend to excel on the attack, but Ryerson holds an edge in digs per set (RYE - 16.13; BRO - 14.32). 

Sunday's game will serve as a key test for the team moving forward. If the Rams stay in system and take advantage of their strengths on the attack and on defence, they can defeat any team in the country. But, if this game resembles last weekend's loss to Western, some further adjustments may need to be made prior to the start of the postseason in February.

Action starts on Friday night against McMaster with first serve set to fly at 6:00 p.m. on OUA.tv