GUELPH, ON – It's back to basics for the Guelph Gryphons.
That's their strategy as they try to get back on track following three straight losses in OUA men's volleyball action.
The team had a long talk in their dressing room after their latest defeat, a straight-set loss to the York Lions on Saturday at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre. York won 25-22, 25-15, 25-22.
"We just had a good discussion around what we can do to be better, what we can do to help each other out, what we can do to be better teammates," head coach
Cal Wigston said when the team finally emerged.
"It was a phenomenal discussion. I said, 'no one's leaving until we figure this out.' So they came out with a list of things they want to do. I'm taking a few of them now over to the West Gym, and we're going to try to correct some mistakes. Do it now while it's fresh in their minds."
It wasn't necessarily that the Gryphs played poorly on Saturday, although they certainly weren't at their best. But they faced a fired-up Lions team that took its own game to a higher level.
"There's nothing I can take away from York. They were really good," Wigston said. "They just play really, really well together. They're an exciting team."
Among the things the Gryphs want to improve is their serving. Several times on Saturday, they killed their own momentum by serving out of bounds and giving points away to York. And that especially hurt in the third set, which they mostly led by two and as many as three points before the Lions rallied and took control for good.
"We did not serve like we did last week against Mac," Wigston said. "Against Mac, we were serving lights out. So we need to get back to that.
"We didn't do a good enough job of hitting the ball hard. We didn't do a good enough job of being great teammates. We just really struggled, and they took it to us."
Josh Green led the Gryphs with nine kills and four digs.
Kendrick Kerr had seven kills, while
Zach Newman had six kills and five digs.
Sam Kloke had 23 assists and six digs, and
Jared Harris had seven digs and three kills.
Wigston said it's been a challenge for the Gryphs to maintain their confidence during their losing streak, which has come on the heels of six consecutive wins. They now have a 6-4 record, tied with Western for second place in the OUA West Division. York moves to 8-3, second in the East.
"We're still in a decent place to make playoffs. We're staying above the teams that we need to stay above," the coach said, noting they have a good opportunity on Sunday afternoon when the Nipissing Lakers visit the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre.
"Nipissing is a big team. We need to play with a lot of energy. If we can serve tough, we stand a chance. We beat them in preseason, but that was preseason. Now we've got to put everything together and play well."
