Men and women’s teams face off in back-to-back match-ups
The men’s and women’s volleyball teams hosted Western and Windsor in back-to-back games on Jan. 23 and Jan. 24. To kick off the games, the women’s team faced the Mustangs, where the ladies fought back-and-forth for the win, besting Western in the first set, 25-20, and then the third set 25-23. With the pressure on during the final set, the girls jumped out to a fast lead of 8-4 before the teams switched sides and closed out the final set 15-8.
Becky Breau led a balanced Guelph offence with 15 points (15 kills), followed by Shannon Morelli with 14 (11 kills, one ace, two blocks), and Jennifer Johnstone with 13 (seven kills, one ace, five blocks), while Kristen Almhjell and Morelli had 15 digs a piece to anchor the defence.
Moving on to the men’s team, who started off strong against the Mustangs and jumped out to the lead with a score of 10-5. The Mustangs came back, rattling off five straight points to tie the game back up at 10.
Gryphons’ fifth-year middle Marc Wilson would have a big kill, and followed it up with a massive block to put Guelph up 16-13. The Gryphons kept up the pace and took it to the Mustangs, and would take the opening set 25-20.
After losing the second set 17-25, the third set would feature Luke Woud stepping into the game, adding some power up-front. Despite the addition, the Gryphons would be bested again 18-25.
The fourth set would start out much better for the home Gryphons, keeping the game close halfway through the set. However, the Mustangs would keep up the pressure, mounting a 17-13 lead before going on to another 18-25 win to take the match in four sets
The girls faced the Windsor Lancers in their second game of the weekend, where they only needed three sets to defeat the visiting team. With the victory over Lancers, the Gryphons move to an 8-7 record surpassing a .500 winning percentage. The first set would start off shaky for the Gryphons, until Morelli would go on a serving spree, rattling off four great serves to get her team back on track. The Gryphons would not look back, winning 25-17, with Johnstone, racking up several big kills in the process. Johnstone would add four more kills in the second set as part of a balanced attack from the Gryphons that included great contributions from Morelli, Johnstone, and Madison Dedecker, as the Gryphons would win the second set 25-21. The Gryphons would continue to take it to the Lancers in the third set, with Morelli sealing the victory 25-20.
Finally, the men faced off against Windsor and would quickly take the first set with an impressive 25-16 margin. However, the next set would not be as easy, and the Gryphons would fall to the Lancers.
In the third set, the Gryphons would fight back against the Lancers and go back-and-forth, trading points at an almost a one-for-one pace. Much to the dismay of the home crowd, the Lancers won the set 28-26 to go up two-sets-to-one. Guelph bounced back, though, and kept the pressure on during the fourth set, with strong plays from Kendrick Kerr and a game-finishing serve from Austin MacIntyre. A fifth set would be needed, with the Gryphons taking the set 25-21.
The fifth set would get underway with the visiting Lancers taking three quick points, and though the Gryphons put up a good fight, they fell short in the fifth set 9-15. Wilson and Connor Cressman would lead the attack for the Gryphons while Libero Eric Wagner led the team with 10 digs.