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The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's volleyball team fell 3-2 (25-23, 14-25, 23-25, 28-26, 14-16) to the No. 10 Ryerson Rams in a thrilling home opening match on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 8) at Goldring Centre.

With the loss, the Blues drop to 2-2, while the Rams improve to 4-0 in the early goings of the OUA season.

Fifth-year leftside hitter Stefan Ristic led the Blues with 17 kills, one block and one ace, while veteran middle Zia Karim had 13 kills and two blocks. Team captain Aidan Haslett added seven kills, two blocks and 10 digs, while Nate Virgo had seven kills and eight digs.

Fifth-year setter Aleksa Miladinovic notched 49 assists, 15 digs and two blocks, with rookie libero Andrew Kos adding 18 digs in the loss.

Ryerson's Robert Wojcik led all players with 20 kills, four aces and one block, while Lucas Coleman had 15 kills, three aces and two blocks in the victory.

Both teams went back and forth to start the first set and a couple of nice points from Will Colucci and Ristic gave Toronto a 16-11 lead at the technical time out. The Rams battled back to bring the set within two (23-21), but a final point from Ristic gave Toronto the 25-23 opening set victory.

Coleman and Alex Dawson got the Rams off to a dominant second set, with Ryerson holding a 16-6 advantage at the break.  Ristic attempted to rally the Blues with three straight points, but the Rams would even the match with a 25-14 win.  

The two teams went back and forth in the third, with Ryerson holding a close16-15 lead at the technical time out. Down two late in the set, Ristic came up with a nice kill and serve to even things up at 20-20, but it wasn't enough as Ryerson took the third 25-23.

The Blues took an early lead in the fourth and continued to lead by a few of points throughout, taking a 16-12 lead at the break. Ryerson evened the set at 22-22, but the Blues forced a fifth set with a huge final kill from Karim, 28-26.

Another see-saw battle in the fifth saw Ryerson lead 8-7 at the switch. A great effort from Haslett helped the Blues tie the set at 9-9, but unfortunately, Lucas Coleman ended the match with back-to-back aces to seal the victory for Ryerson.

The Varsity Blues return to action next Friday, November 14 when they host the McMaster Marauders at Goldring Centre. Game time is set for 1 p.m. 

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