Guelph dropped their sixth game of the season to the powerhouse Varsity Blues form Toronto. Set scores were 16-25, 17-25, 25-22 and 19-25. The loss dropped the women back to .500 (3-3), good enough for second place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West standings.
To say there is a significant disparity between the East and West divisions in women’s volleyball is perhaps an understatement. Though Guelph sits second in the West at 3-3, and have lost two more sets than they have won this year, the Varsity Blues sit fourth in the East as they sport a 5-2 record with an impressive seven more sets won than lost.
Despite the dominance from the East, the women’s volleyball team played a respectable match at home against Toronto on Saturday.
Guelph held their own to begin the match, but Toronto went on a 10-4 run and pulled away with a quick 25-16 win, and carried that momentum into the second set by going up to a score of 12-3. Guelph managed to claw back within five to make it 19-14, but the Varsity Blues showed why they are among the best in the OUA and took six of the next nine points to win the set 25-17.
The third set saw Guelph behind the proverbial eight ball early once again, but the women rallied to go up 16-14 as teams went into the technical timeout. A late 4-1 rally by the Gryphons set up a 25-22 win for Guelph – their only set win of the match.
Set four started promisingly for Guelph, going up 4-0 early on only to lose momentum shortly after, losing the final set 25-19.
Coach Paul Funk was disappointed with the performance against Toronto. “We had time to prepare for the opponent this week but came out flat for the second match in a row and it cost us,” said Funk
Alicia Combe-Decker led Guelph in the Kills-Aces-Blocks category with 7-1-6 respectively, while Madison Decker also contributed with 9-0-3 totals.
Guelph’s next game is at home on Friday Nov. 15 versus their division rival, the McMaster Marauders, who also sport a 3-3 record. On Saturday Nov. 16 the women will host the OUA West’s Ottawa Gee-Gee’s, who currently hold second in their division with an impressive 5-1 record.