HAMILTON – On some nights, whatever you have just isn't enough. The Guelph Gryphon men's volleyball team had one of those outings Friday at the Burridge Gym in Hamilton. Guelph wasn't bad but the host Marauders were simply dominant, defeating the Gryphons 3-0, with set scores of 25-20, 28-25 and 25-15.
 
It was Guelph's first OUA action in almost two months. But head coach Cal Wigston said there were no excuses for his team's loss to the OUA West-leading Marauders.
 
"We got beat by a very strong team," said Wigston. "They're big and they hit the ball very hard. They were just a lot more physical than us."

 

Trailing 2-0 in sets, the Gryphons (4-6) had trouble putting a dent in McMaster's lead. The Marauders produced an 8-2 run to go up 10-5 in the third before scoring five straight points prior to the technical timeout for a comfortable 16-7 lead. Matthew Baxter and Samuel Nothnagel helped spur a mini 5-2 run for Guelph but the Marauders won 7 of the last 10 points to close out the match.
 
Jared Harris led the Gryphons with 7 kills, with Zachary Newman and Kendrick Kerr managing 6 each. But Guelph's front line was overmatched by the Marauders, who had a staggering hit percentage of .434. Andrew Richards, the best player in the OUA according to Wigston, and Matt Passalent led the hosts with 11 kills each.
 
"Mac played out of their minds," said the coach. "We threw everything at them and they had an answer every time."
 
The signs were there early. McMaster started the first set up 5-2 and while Guelph kept pace for a while, the Marauder power quickly became an issue. The Gryphons got a kill from Kerr and a Mac error to cut the margin to 22-19 but lost three of the next four points to drop the opening set 25-20.
 
Guelph traded points early with McMaster in the second set but the division leader went on a 7-0 run to take a commanding 11-4 lead. The Marauders were 12-for-12 on attacks by the technical timeout and while the Gryphons had a 4-0 run that included a Mac error and three straight kills, two coming from Harris, they couldn't hold off the hosts.
 
Guelph is back on the court Saturday when the Brock Badgers come to town.
 
"We have to regroup," Wigston said.

~ Photos courtesy Rick Zazulak