Fresh off dominant sweep, Rams prepare to do battle against Toronto

TORONTO — After a decisive victory against the York Lions in their first home game since February 29, 2020, the Rams men’s volleyball team gets set to take on the Toronto Varsity Blues, who were recently ranked as the country’s fourth-best program by U SPORTS, on Saturday at 5 p.m. It’ll be the first of three meetings between the cross-town rivals and the only one in the first half of the season. 

Though the Rams’ season got off to a rough start in the form of two losses against the Queen’s Gaels, the team’s dominant victory on home turf against the Lions bodes well for their confidence and momentum. Rams interim head coach Niko Rukavina praised the team’s defence and their subsequent transition to attack as being key in their sweep on Saturday.

“We focused on it a lot in practice and it showed in-game,” Rukavina said after a victory in which his team surrendered no more than 19 points in a set. 

Added first-year outside hitter Lucas Yang: “We’re firing on all cylinders.”

In particular, Jacob Walker (14 kills vs. York, 14 kills vs. Queen’s) and Yang (8 kills vs. York, 3 kills vs. Queen’s) figure to be a central part of the team’s offence. Elsewhere on the roster, Alex King (5 kills vs. York) and Saad Shaikh are poised to be valuable contributors in the team’s upcoming matchups.

After their game against the Varsity Blues, the Rams will travel to North Bay to face off against the surging Nipissing Lakers in back-to-back evening games on November 26 and 27 to close the fall portion of the schedule.