TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams men's volleyball team quickly took care of business on Saturday afternoon as they defeated the York Lions in straight sets (25-15, 25-20, 25-20).

The Rams not only eliminated the Lions from playoff contention, but solidified their top-three finish in the OUA East. The possibility for a second place finish is still there, but the Queen's Gaels must lose to either the Guelph Gryphons or the Rams next weekend.

Today's win was an impressive team performance, as Ryerson showed strong defence and an all-around offence. 

Other than the opening point that went the Lions way, the Rams came out playing aggressively and led 16-8 at the first technical timeout. The Rams went on to win the first set 25-15 and also led the rest of the entire match. The first set was highlighted by Navreet Suhan's (Mississauga, Ont.) strong play, as he tallied three kills, three assists, with an ace and solo block in the set. 

"We knew York was going to come out fighting, their season was on the line today, so we knew we had to put our best foot forward and we showed it tonight," said the team captain Suhan who was pleased with his team's performance. 

The Rams kept their aggressiveness going into the second, as they dominated the Lions in kills (14-8) and tallied six aces in the set. The set ended 25-20 with the Rams leading comfortably the whole way. 

Ryerson showed a slight decrease in the level of play in the third, as the scoreboard was tighter the whole set. Luckily for the Rams, the Lions piled up the errors the whole set and kept the Rams in the lead. The match was sealed with a 25-20 third set win.

Rams outside-hitter Xander Ketrzynski (Toronto) had a game-high of ten kills, but third-year Ram Greg Vukets (Auckland, New Zealand) had a stellar game, demonstrating his versatility and making plays on all parts of the court.

"In New Zealand, the level is not as high so you're not good enough to just be good at one thing and have to develop in all aspects," said Vukets, who developed a lot of his skills as a beach volleyball player. 

The Rams' defence against the Lions was also something worth noting, as they held the OUA leaders in service aces to zero aces in the entire match. Vukets talked about the importance of stopping their serves, saying, "There are one or two guys especially, who really start heating up after hitting a couple in a row, so for a couple of guys we paid extra attention to winning that first point on their serves." 

The Rams will be back on the court next Sunday, February 23, taking on the Queen's Gaels for their last game of the season.