Box Score The Warriors men's volleyball team (1-3) was back in action on Saturday night as they hosted the Guelph Gryphons (1-3) at the Physical Activities Complex. Waterloo was coming off a tough straight sets sweep to the #1 CIS ranked McMaster Marauders on Friday night and was looking to rebound. While the Gryphons were able to steal one set, Waterloo would seal the victory 3-1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-18) and improve their record to 2-3 while Guelph falls to 1-4.
Both teams got out to a solid with neither side able to separate themselves as Guelph held an 8-7 lead but would steal 4 of the next 5 point to force Warriors head coach Chris Lawson into a time-out trailing 12-8. At the technical time-out, Guelph remained in control leading 16-12 and both teams swapped points until 20-16 in favour of the red and white before Lawson used his second time-out. Unforced errors haunted the black and gold for the remainder of the set before Guelph eventually claimed the first set 25-20.
The two sides battled hard at the outset of the second set and again both teams couldn't pull away as they were tied at 11-11. Waterloo would use a strong service game to force the Gryphons defense into some tough decisions before establishing a 16-13 lead at the technical time-out. After a huge stuff-block off the hands of Trevor Coathup (Ottawa) and Gibson Graham (Markham), Gryphon's head coach Cal Wigston was forced into a timeout with his side trailing 18-14. Graham continued to spread the offense effectively as the black and gold cruised to a 25-18 second set victory to tie the match at 1-1.
At the outset of the third set, Guelph seemed to be flustered as a number of unforced errors saw Waterloo leading 7-3 early. Waterloo's service game was much better this match and allowed them to string along some momentum before Aidan Simone (London) finished off a strong defensive effort to force Guelph into a time-out trailing 14-10. The red and white would keep it close throughout the remainder of the set but the Warriors would ultimately prevail 25-21 on a huge kill by the rookie Jonathan Loos (Delaware) and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set, the black and gold seemed very composed by limiting their attacking errors and remaining strong on the defensive side of the ball before doubling up on Guelph and taking a 10-5 lead. After a Guelph time-out the very next rally, Guelph made a substitution, bringing in Samuel Kloke to replace Kyle Richards in an attempt to change the momentum.
The Warriors continued to dominate the fourth set and doubled up on the Gryphons 16-8 at the break. Guelph wouldn't go away without a fight as they slimmed the margin to 21-19 at which point Lawson called his second time-out, not wanting to allow the opposition back into this contest. The time-out was exactly was the home side need as they would collect four of the next six points capped off by a Gryphons service error to win the fourth set 25-21 and the match 3-1.
On the home side, Braden Cok (Waterloo) was up to his usual-self, posting a game-high 20 kills and 6 digs while outside hitter Aidan Simone (London) had a solid game with 17 kills (.441) and 5digs of his own. Gibson Graham (Markham) added 55 assists in the contest while Erich Woolley (New Dundee) chipped in with 16 digs.
For the visitors, Zach Newman contributed with 11 kills and 3 digs while Jared Harris came in off the bench and notched 8 kills and 4 digs. Kyle Richards also posted 24 assists in the losing effort before Kloke replaced him late in the match.
The black and gold will be on the road next Friday night against Windsor before returning home Nov 21/22 to host the Windsor Lancers and their rivals the Western Mustangs.
