GUELPH, ON  – In an instant classic that lived up to the billing and then some, the Gryphons Men's Volleyball team completed a comeback down two sets to defeat Queen's in five sets on Saturday night at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. Set scores were 29-31, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21, & 15-6. The win extends Guelph's win streak to five as they move to 5-1 while the Gaels drop to 5-2.

In a tight match where any ounce of momentum would swing a set or even a match, the biggest plays and momentum swing would come off the serve of left side Jared Harris as he would come up clutch in the fifth set for the Gryphons.

Harris' serving in the set caused a lot of problems for the Gaels as they were unable to come up with clean returns that led to six straight points. Harris would help his team's cause with two gigantic aces that had the home crowd rocking at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre and sent his teammates into a frenzy. His serving turned a slim 5-3 lead into a huge 11-3 lead and that's all the Gryphons would need winning the set 15-6 and completing the comeback from down two sets.

"Jared Harris struggled throughout the match and I had a feeling to leave him in the game and thought this kid is about to go off and sure enough, he did. Man, he just was hitting those serves. He was unbelievable, he was so good. I'm so proud of him. Second year player to come in to do that, is so good," said Gryphons head coach Cal Wigston.

What showed tonight against a really good Queen's side was the fight and resilience of this Gryphons team and that didn't go unnoticed from Harris and Coach Wigston.

"This team has something special going on. Even if we're down, even if it's close, there's a confidence on the court the guys are never saying die. We won't quit. It's just the consistency. That's something special that not a lot of teams have and that's why we could lose two sets and come back in five," Harris said about his team.

"Fight and resilience. We are a family on and off the floor. We just work so well together, we fight together. There's just no quit in these guys. I love this team, truly love this team, they're such a great group of guys," added Wigston about his team's performance.

The Gryphons would go down two sets after the Gaels would take the final three points of a very tight set that would see them win 31-29. The second set would see the Gaels taking seven of the next eight points after being tied 9-9 and never look back capping off the set winning the last three points for a 25-20 win.

The key play of the third set and the start of the comeback would come with the Gaels making their run winning 3 points in a row to cut the lead down to 20-19. A perfect set to Zach Newman as he would hammer home a huge point into the open floor to stop the run as it would lead them to a third set win by taking the final four points.

The Gryphons would use the momentum to finish the third set onto the next winning 6 of the first 7 points of the set. Even with an early lead in a tight match, the set was going to be decided late as the Gaels would cut into the deficit. The set the deciding play would come with the Gryphs leading 21-20, Sam Kloke would deliver with a two hand volley on two that found open floor and the hosts would take set 25-21.

It was a complete team effort for the Gryphons with Kendrick Kerr leading the way with 13 kills, Zach Newman with 11 kills, 2 aces and 9 digs, Josh Green with 10 kills, 1 ace and 8 digs, Gregory Olejnik finished the night with 10 kills. Sam Kloke was huge with 49 assists as well as 11 digs. And Jared Harris finished 8 kills, 4 aces and 2 blocks.
Wigston praised Kerr's performance tonight as well as Conan Mickey coming off the bench in the fifth set for Green as he played a prominent role in the set for the Gryphs.

The Gryphons will wrap up their 2016 portion of the schedule with a road game Friday night in St. Catharines against the Brock Badgers.