HAMILTON, ON - It has been 19 years since the Guelph Gryphons were last represented at a Canadian university men's volleyball national championship. The 2016-17 squad came one win away from putting an end to that streak.
With a berth to the U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championships in Edmonton on the line, the Gryphons suffered a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Waterloo Warriors on Friday night in Hamilton in what was the opening match of the 2017 OUA Men's Volleyball Final Four (hosted by McMaster University). The Warriors were able to edge the Gryphons in three tightly-contested sets, winning 25-22, 26-24 & 25-21. The Gryphons will now play in the OUA bronze medal match on Saturday at 5:30pm versus Ryerson. Waterloo meanwhile advances to the OUA gold medal match Saturday night where they will face the host Marauders (8pm).
After watching the Warriors take the opening set on a serve that clipped the net and crept over onto the Gryphons side of the court, the Gryphs would show terrific resolve in the 2nd set, battling back from down 23-19 to tie the set at 23-23 apiece before ultimately falling 26-24. In the 3rd set, the Gryphons held a 15-13 advantage before a late push by the Warriors propelled them to a 25-21 win to seal the match.
Service errors proved costly for the Gryphons on the night who, as the team, committed a total of 18 service errors in the match.
Zach Newman led the Gryphons with 10.5 points (8 kills, 2 aces, 1 block assist) while
Kendrick Kerr finished with 8.5 points (7 kills, 3 block assists) while recording a hitting percentage of .462. The Warriors were led by OUA All-Star Braden Cok who had a game-high 16 points and 13 kills.
Friday night's loss marked the Gryphons first loss in three matches versus the Warriors this season after having swept both of their head-to-head matchups during the regular season. With a win on Saturday night versus Ryerson, the Gryphons would reach the OUA podium for the first time since the 2009-10 season when they were silver medalists.
