TORONTO – Thirty-seven points from Lucas Coleman helped the Ryerson Rams defeat the Western Mustangs in five sets (25-17, 25-22, 20-25, 22-25, 16-18) on Saturday night in an OUA Quarter-final matchup at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
 
The win sends Ryerson to next weekend's OUA Final Four, where they'll take on the host and top-ranked McMaster Marauders on Friday night.
 
Coleman's 37 points came from 30 kills, six aces, and two assisted blocks. Fifth-year middle Uchenna Ofoha was next up for the Rams with 15.5 points, while Brendan Kewin followed with 11.
 
Zeid Hamadeh led the Mustangs offence on Saturday, tallying 21.5 points on 15 kills, five aces, and three assisted blocks. Three other Mustangs hit double digits in the contest, with Chris Newcombe scoring 13.5 points, while Evan Cranshaw and Mike Choja recorded 11 and 10 points respectively.
 
Ryerson took an early lead on the purple and white, going ahead 4-1 before the Mustangs began to close the gap, tying things up at 7-7. From there it was a point-for-point affair, with Newcombe racking up three points for the Mustangs off of one kill and two aces, to help the lead Mustangs into the technical timeout up 16-15.
 
Western took control following the timeout, going on a 9-2 run, including a six-serve run from Hamadeh to close out the set with a 25-17 win.
 
The Mustangs carried the momentum from the first set into the second, staring things off with a 6-3 lead before Western began to pull away heading into the technical, going up 16-11 at the timeout.
 
The Rams bounced back following the timeout, chipping away at the Mustangs lead throughout the remainder of the set. Coleman and Ofoha combined for five of the Rams 11 points after the technical, and despite briefly stalling the Mustangs at 24, a kill from Newcombe gave the Mustangs a 25-22 set victory.
 
Western continued to roll early in the third, stringing together three straight points to open the frame before Ryerson answered back with three points of their own. That theme would continue throughout the early going, with Western going on a four point run only for Ryerson to respond with their own four point streak to tie the set at 7-7.
 
Similar to the second frame, the Mustangs began to take control near the midway point of the set, with two kills apiece from Hamadeh, Cranshaw, and Choja helping to put Western up 16-13 at the technical timeout. Although Western held the edge heading into the timeout, it was a different Rams squad that returned to the court, coming back to tie the frame at 19-19 before going on a 5-0 run to end the set, handing the Mustangs a 20-25 loss.
 
Fitting the theme of Saturday night's game, neither team was able to build a sizeable advantage throughout the early stages of the fourth, with no side holding more than a two-point lead by the time the game was tied at 10-10.
 
While it was the Mustangs that began to take the lead midway through the previous two sets, it was the Rams that began to control the scoreboard in the fourth, going on a 6-2 run to take a 16-12 lead at the technical timeout.
 
Western fired back after the timeout, highlighted by aces from Evan Hammond and Gavin Taylor to tie the set at 17-17, and again at 19-19. Unfortunately for the purple and white, the Rams held the edge over the final points of the frame, with Adam Anagnostopoulos recording a final kill to give the home side a 25-22 win and force a fifth and deciding set.
 
Ryerson continued to hold the advantage early in the fifth, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. The Mustangs stormed back to tie things up at 6-6, powered by three kills from Taylor, before extending their lead to 8-6.
 
A kill by Cranshaw and two errors from the Rams put Western in front 14-11, however Ryerson fired back with four consecutive points to take a 15-14 lead. A pair of kills from Coleman and Mattias Peters pushed the Rams over the top, taking the match with an 18-16 set win.