The No. 10 Windsor Lancers men's volleyball team kicked off 2020 on a winning note with an impressive comeback 3-2 (16-25, 26-28, 25-23, 25-17, and 15-12) win over the Ryerson Rams on Saturday night in Toronto. 
 
The blue and gold struggled to find their rhythm consistently in the first two sets but that all changed from the third set on. The Lancers battled back down 2-0 in the match to flip the switch on the game and turn the tables on the Rams ultimately claiming the match with a marvelous 3-2 road win to start 2020. 
 
GAME STATS
Ryerson's Xander Ketrzysnki led the game offensively with 27 kills on the night in the loss. While on the winning side the Lancers were led by fourth year outside hitter, Pierce Johnson, who racked up 20 kills on the night.
 
Third year outside hitter, Sean Spencer, also had a great night recording a season-high of 14 kills in the Lancers win. Lancer veteran setter Nolan Langley had 42 assists in the win, while rookie libero Steven Abrams was also a significant factor for the blue and gold coming up huge defensively with 11 digs on the night propelling his team to victory over a strong Ryerson squad. 
 
 
GAME FLOW
In the first set, Ryerson seemed to be in control throughout most of the set hardly ever letting up on the Lancers. Although it was a home game for them, they did not want to allow the visiting Windsor fans get in their heads and hijack their gym's energy like how they successful did during the 2019 OUA playoff quarter-final game last season. The Rams kept their foot on the gas and managed to roll by the Lancers 25-16 in the first set not allowing them to get going very much off of Ketrzysnki's strong play. 
 
The second set though changed the narrative of the game as we began to see that these two teams were indeed equally matched as they engaged in a tug-a-war tradeoff of points after every serve that came their way. The Lancers coming alive with pose a challenge to the Rams who knew that the nationally ranked blue and gold coming in were going to be no easy opponent. With Windsor playing more effectively in the second set it forced the Rams to play extra points were ultimately the Rams stamina allowed them to take it 28-26. 
 
In the third set, the Lancers did not want to go home swept by the Rams which would not have been a good look to start off their second half of the season. Especially if the blue and gold wants to continue competing hard of completing their goal of getting back to nationals. The Lancers knew that they were in for a challenge with the Rams as Ryerson currently sits near the top of the OUA Eastern Conference. Nonetheless though, the Lancers put aside all that to focus playing point-by-point keeping consistency throughout the set and although it was just as close as the last, they managed to be in control for much of it this time around looking to reverse the flow of this game. They managed to take the third set 25-23 off of a strong kill from Johnson giving them hope and the opportunity of staying alive in this contest. 
 
The fourth set, started off similar to the last two sets, remaining close with little margin for error. The Lancers though however would start to ramp up their confidence with strong plays which continued to shift the momentum of the game their way. It seemed like the Rams knew that the longer this game went on the less likely they would be able to close out this one. That is exactly what the Lancers did though, kept their foot on the pedal driving themselves to a 25-17 fourth set win forcing a fifth and final set. 
 
Fifth set came. Both squads traded the first few points but ultimately it became Windsor's game to win and Ryerson's game to lose. The Lancers fueled that notion by topping up an 8-3 lead before switching sides looking to get the next 7 points necessary to the 15 points needed to win the fifth set and match. The Rams continued to fight back but ultimately ran out of gas while the Lancers continued to ride their energy wave to victory finishing off the comeback with 15-12 fifth set win and 3-2 comeback victory.  The blue and gold saluted their fans afterwards who again became their 7th man on the court in this one in what felt like a home game towards the end of the fifth and final set. 
 
UP NEXT
The Lancers will return home as happy campers and will begin to prepare for their next home match to play in front of the rest of Lancer Nation for the first home game of 2020 on Friday January 17th vs the RMC Paladins. First serve is scheduled for 8PM following the conclusion of the women's game beginning at 6PM. You can get your tickets in advance here at www.goLancers.ca/tickets or you can catch the action as always live on OUA.tv.