The University of Guelph women's volleyball team dropped their season opener 3-1 to Waterloo last night at the W.F. Mitchell Athletic Center. Set scores were 25-23, 15-25, 24-26 & 20-25.

The first set saw both teams siding out effectively as neither team was able to build a substantial lead. Guelph managed to forge a two point lead at 23-21 and hung on to take the set 25-23. However, following an injury delay at the end of set one, the Gryphons lost their momentum and started the second set with a number of unforced errors as they fell behind 11-3. Guelph never closed the lead to less than four points the rest of the way and dropped the set 25-15.

Set three was again a back and forth affair early on with the teams trading the lead a number of times. Despite having a set point at 24-23, a couple of Guelph hitting errors allowed Waterloo to win 26-24.

The fourth set saw Waterloo jump to an early 8-4 lead that was expanded to 18-11 and the Gryphons never managed to close the lead losing 25-20.

Coach Paul Funk said, "We are a streaky team right now, at times playing well. But tonight, we made unforced errors at crucial times that swung the match in Waterloo's favor. We have to get better at executing when games get tight."

Guelph's offense was led by Julie Gordon with 17 points (17 kills) followed by Devon Jones (8 kills, 1 block) and Marieka Ouimette (7 kills, 1 ace, 1 block) with 9 each.

The Gryphons next action is a home match next Friday at 6pm against the McMaster Marauders.