Men's volleyball will begin their post-season campaign back at Ryerson exactly one week after a three set loss (18-25, 16-25, 21-25) to the Rams that brought an end to the regular season.

One of the main themes of the Mustangs season so far has been inconsistency. A strong pre-season campaign and early wins landed the team on the CIS Top 10 list only to falter as they moved further into November. Western's strengths were obvious as they took on top teams and pulled a set off the Marauders, but also struggled to overcome teams that now sit at the bottom of league standings.

Head Coach Jim Sage has mentioned in post-game interviews the importance of keeping a level head and his team's need to be in tighter control of their emotions, while an injury plagued roster has further complicated consistency on the floor. In fact, only one of Western's top point earners has been able to play through the entire season.

Western's depth on the bench has kept them alive, as Bryn Ramsay, Evan Hammond, and Evan Cranshaw have all become standouts on the floor since the New Year.

Looking ahead to Saturday's matchup, the Mustangs will likely continue to capitalize on Ramsay's attack, as he was the greatest offensive weapon against Ryerson. Hammond is also likely to see some time on the court after he made a big impact in limited action. Despite joining the floor in the third set of last week's matchup, Hammond posted one of Western's best blocking performances of the night.

His numbers complimented that of veteran Mike Choja, who has anchored the blocking effort for Western throughout the season and recently rose to the top of the scoresheet. Last week's matchups with Toronto and Ryerson pushed the London native over the 200-point mark to end the regular season at 210.

In both last week's contest with Ryerson and the season as a whole, serve reception has been the biggest obstacle to Western's success. With 118 reception errors throughout the regular season to lead the OUA, serve reception may play a key factor on Saturday, especially given that the rams excel at the baseline.

Western at Ryerson – Saturday, February 27 at 4 p.m.  – Watch live on OUA.tv

With the Ryerson Rams as their first opponent of the post-season, Western can't afford to make any mistakes.

It's no secret that the Rams have one of the strongest attacking lines in the OUA. As the Mustangs experienced last week, setter Adam Anagnostopoulos chooses to focus on his left and right side attackers and uses his middles more sparingly – though they're just as capable of putting the ball away.

Lucas Coleman, finishing up his third year as a Ram, led the offensivee effort against Western in both of the previous matchups and is expected to continue to dominate the floor. As one of the most efficient hitters in the OUA, he has consistently been at the top of everyone's player to watch list. However, the most recent matchup revealed senior Robert Wojcik to be equally as threatening with his strong attack and stronger serve.

Ryerson's serves, as a whole, are among the most lethal in the league. Wojcik, Coleman, and Alex Dawson – all averaging more than .30 aces per set – will pose the greatest challenge to Western's reception.

Arguably, this rematch couldn't have been scheduled for a better time. The Mustangs will be walking back on to the floor with full knowledge of the Rams gameplan, and Western will be looking to exact some revenge for last week's loss and to earn a spot in the OUA Final Four.