MEN'S VOLLEYBALL - Gryphons win season-opener 3-1 against Rams
GUELPH, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphons matched up against the Ryerson Rams tonight (Oct. 28
th) in Guelph at the W.F. Mitchell Center. After a tense game the Gryphons won their season-opener 3-1. Set scores were 25-22, 25-27, 25-20, and 25-22.
It was a rough start for the Gryphons in the first set, having added six rookies to the team this season. The Gryphons had already met the Rams in a pre-season tournament where they lost 3-1. A new dynamic on the court made for some early mistakes and miscommunications and gave the Rams a slight early lead. The Gryphons started pulling it together with help from
Marc Wilson (Stratford, ON) who showed great promise last season as a rookie, and he brought it full force to this game.
The Gryphons introduced a promising new starting libero to the court –
Hugo Curley (Ottawa, ON), the third libero the team has seen in three years. New Gryphons
Greg Houston (Chatham, ON) and
Eric Wagner (Kitchener, ON) were also thrown into the mix this game and played well. Guelph closed the gap in the first set and eventually overcame the Rams finishing it 25-22.
The Gryphons and Rams played a very competitive second set. The Gryphons had to ward off Luca Milosevic (Toronto, ON) and Alexander Dawson's (Scarborough, ON) aggressive attacks. The score continued to build back and forth until it sat at 25-26 and Ram player Marc Reardon (London, ON) took the set with a final kill – 25-27.
The third set was much stronger for the Gryphons. Houston, Andrew Whitaker (Sharon, ON) and Winston Rosser (Whitby, ON) led the Gryphons in kills and helped build a lead midway through the set that carried them straight to the end. Ultimately it was the defensive combination of Whitaker, Wilson and Ryan Killeen (Oakville, ON) and their blocks that took the third set 25-20.
In the fourth, Ryersons Aleska Miladinovic (Belgrade, Serbia) proved to be a strong defensive player for the Rams and managed to shut down a lot of Gryphon attacks. Midway through the set Guelph capitalized on some Ryerson mistakes and were able to build a comfortable lead that the Rams couldn't catch up to. An ace from Kevin Carey (Grand Prairie, AB) secured the Gryphon lead at 24-21, and a Rams service error finished the game 25-22.
The game ended 3-1 for the Gryphons, proving the strength of the new and old members as a team. The Gryphons were led by Whitaker with 16 kills, 2 aces and 3 digs, along with Rosser and rookie Houston who both had 10 kills each. The Rams were led by Milosevic with 15 kills, 3 aces, and 6 digs.
The Gryphons next play Oct. 29
th against the McMaster Marauders in Guelph at the W.F. Mitchell Center. The game begins at 8pm.
