The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision (25-20, 20-25, 20-25, 21-25) to the Ryerson Rams on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 20) at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

TORONTO STATS: Fourth-year outside hitter Chris Towe led the Blues with 20 points off of 19 points and one block, while veteran middle Austin Valjas matched his career-high with 14 points off of nine kills, four blocks and one ace.

Sophomore libero Daniel Tudor notched a team-high 12 digs, while third-year setter Jordan Figueira tallied 42 assists and six digs in the loss.

HOW IT HAPPENED: The first set started as a back-and-forth affair with Toronto building a narrow 16-13 lead at the technical timeout. Led by a seven-point effort from Valjas, U of T took over from there, going on a 6-2 run to eventually close out the set, 25-20.

The second set started the same as the first, but this time the Rams took a 16-13 lead at the break. The Rams pulled away with a streak of their own to even the match at 1-1, 25-20. Ryerson went onto take a 2-1 match lead with another 16-13 technical-timeout advantage and 25-20 third set victory.

The fourth set proved to be a see-saw affair with neither team holding more than a three-point lead throughout. After Ryerson took a 16-15 lead at the technical timeout, they went on a 8-3 run to seal the 3-1 victory, 25-21.

UP NEXT: The Blues return to action next Saturday, January 26 as they travel to Kingston, Ont., to take on the Queen's Gaels. Opening serve is scheduled for 3 p.m.

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