Box Score LONDON, Ont. – The No. 9 nationally-ranked Western Mustangs men's volleyball team looked to extend their four game win-streak Saturday night against the Ryerson Rams at Alumni Hall. The Mustangs were not able to match Ryerson's solid offense, dropping the match 3-2 with set scores of 21-25, 24-26, 25-17, 26-24 and 14-16.
 
"You can't go down 2-0 against good teams because you use a lot of energy to fight back," said Mustangs head coach Jim Sage. "And we were so close in that fifth set. I'm so proud of the guys for doing that; there's no doubt about it. But a loss is a loss, regardless."
 
The teams traded points for much of the first set and at the technical timeout the Rams led 16-12. By the end of the set, the Rams had only allowed the Mustangs to gather another five points.
 
Western led for the first part of the second set, but by the technical, the Rams had climbed back into the lead. The Mustangs tied the score at 18, 19 and 20, until Ryerson pulled ahead to claim the set with a score of 26-24.
 
These well-matched teams battled hard in the third with Western coming out on top with a score of 25-17.
 
The resilient Mustangs were not prepared to give up and took the Rams to task in the fourth frame. Halfway through the set though, the Mustangs began to struggle defensively. A few plays later, Western was back on track, and still in the match with a set win of 26-24.
 
The fifth and final set was a thrilling one as the teams both put up a hard fight. In the end the Rams took the set 16-14 to close out the game with a 3-2 victory.
 
Fourth-year Mustang Derek Kuiack led all Mustangs on the attack tonight with 14 kills. Luke Sim contributed 11 kills, three assists, three digs and two block assists.
 
Ryerson player Robert Wojcik had a game-high 20 kills and one solo block.
 
"I was severely worried about them [Ryerson] coming here," continued Sage. "They lost last night in Windsor and I think our guys thought they'd have it easy tonight. It just fired Ryerson up to more resolve and they played well. I give them a lot of credit."
 
The Mustangs will be back at Alumni Hall on Saturday, Nov. 23 when the Guelph Gryphons come to town for an afternoon game. Game time is 2:00 p.m. and Mustangs fans from around the world can catch all of action live here.