ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – Friday night in St. Catharines, the Gryphons men's volleyball team improved to 2-1 on the season with a 3-sets-to-1 win over the Brock Badgers (0-1). In the process, head coach Cal Wigston, now in his 12th season in charge of the U of G men's volleyball program, picked up the 100th regular season win of his coaching career.
 
Leading the way for the Gryphons on Friday night was 6-foot-8 sophomore Matthew Baxter (Lucan, ON) who led all players with 17 kills and 24 points. Baxter would provide the exclamation mark with an emphatic kill to end the 1st set, which the Gryphons won comfortably 25-19.
 
After the Badgers tied the match at a set apiece, the Gryphons would take advantage of some costly Brock service errors to take the 3rd set 25-21. A 12-3 run by the Gryphs in the 4th set would propel them to another 25-19 win to close out the match 3-sets-to-1.
 
Aside from Baxter's huge night, the Gryphons also received some standout efforts from third year middle Sam Nothnagel (Melbourne, Australia) who racked up 5 blocks to go along with his 9 kills. OUA Second Team All-Star Sam Kloke distributed the ball effectively all match, finishing with 35 assists to go with his 10 digs.
 
The Gryphons (2-1) will now return home for a huge Saturday night matchup with the McMaster Marauders (1-1). Mac lost to Ryerson in their season opener, but rebounded on Friday night with a win of their own as they swept the Waterloo Warriors in straight sets.
 
The Gryphons and Marauders will square off Saturday night at 8pm at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, with the match streaming live online at www.oua.tv.