The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s volleyball team fell 3-1 (25-18, 25-17, 15-25, 25-15) to the Ryerson Rams on Friday, October 29 at Kerr Hall.

The Rams gained the lead early on in the first set. Carli Yim of Markham, Ont. and Ottawa native Haley Wolfendan helped Ryerson widen the gap to five (18-13) midway through the first. Toronto’s Alexandra Hudson (Mississauga, Ont.) and Katrina Rossall responded, earning some nice kills as the Blues narrowed the gap to two; however, Yim and Lisa Hooey of Pickering, Ont. both landed two kills each and with one powerful serve, the Rams took the first set 25-18.

Calgary natives Katrina and Shannon Rossall began the second set off with two impressive strikes; but the Rams fought back and continued to even the score until the first technical time out. Ryerson then stormed ahead with two consecutive strikes from Yim and Jessica Broad (Courtice, Ont.) to gain a lead that would not subside. The Blues continued to fight back, but were not able to catch up, dropping the set 25-17.

Ryerson carried that momentum over into the third set, but the Blues pulled themselves together and made up the difference with kills coming from Malena Rapaport, Karlee Deising, and Charlotte Sider. U of T built a 15-9 advantage at the first technical timeout and from then on it was a steady climb. With a final kill from Diesing, U of T was back in the game and took the third set 25-15.

Despite Toronto’s best efforts, Ryerson gained and maintained the lead early on in the fourth. Shannon Rossall, Sider, Hudson and Diesing all landed nice kills for the Blues and helped maintain a four-point gap throughout, but it wasn’t enough as the Rams responded and refused to back down to take the fourth and deciding set 25-15.

Diesing tallied a game-high 12 kills, followed by Sider with 10. Notably, Rapaport earned 20 assists in the loss.

The Varsity Blues return to the court on Sunday, October 31 when they host the York Lions at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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