(Courtesy Alex D’Addese)
The Ryerson men’s volleyball team was eliminated from the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Championships after a tight 3-2 loss to Laval University.
It was the first visit to the CIS playoffs from the Rams, who took the first game in the match. A second set slip by the Ryerson, leading 23-20, was pivotal.
“We let things get away from us towards the end of the set,” Reid said. “We just could not hold off Laval, to be quite honest.”
In that second set, each team used several timeouts late in the set. Laval took five straight points to win it.
The match was now tied at 1-1. It had started well for the Rams. They carried a 7-4 lead to put away the first set 25-22. Alex Dawson and Lucas Coleman led the way for the Rams in the opening set with five kills each.
Reid said Coleman put on an “incredible performance” finishing the match with 27 kills.
“He reduced his amount of errors and still stayed aggressive. He was simply too much for them to handle at the net,” said Reid. “It’s tough when you have a player perform like that and not end up in the winner’s column.”
Despite the second-set let down, Ryerson returned the favour in the third. Laval held an 11-8 to see Ryerson storm back for a 25-23 win. Coleman had once again led the way for the Rams in the set, finishing with eight kills.
“Laval had the momentum for the majority of the set,” Reid said. “At the end we scored six straight points and just took it from them.”
The Rams were up 2-1. They could end the match with a win and earn themselves a chance to continue on in the tournament. But Le Rouge et Or took the fourth set 25-18, forcing the final set.
“We were starting to show signs of physical, mental and emotional fatigue,” said Reid.
The fifth set, unlike sets one through four, is decided when the first team scores 15 points while winning by two points. The first four sets end when the first team scores 25 points and wins by two points.
Laval got out to an early 4-1 lead, forcing Reid and the Rams to call a timeout.
Despite a hard fought battle, Laval won the set 16-14.
“We had a pretty good comeback,” Reid said. “Unfortunately we just couldn’t quite seal it.”
With the loss, the Rams were eliminated from the tournament without a win — but they had lost earlier in the tournament to the champions.
Langley, B.C.-based Trinity Western University beat host McMaster on Saturday to win the tournament.
