HAMILTON – The Guelph Gryphons women's volleyball team knew that a trip to Hamilton to face the top dog in the OUA West would be one of its biggest challenges this season. The Gryphons battled but simply didn't have enough firepower to combat the powerful McMaster Marauders, losing 3-0 Friday night at the Burridge Gym. McMaster swept the three sets 25-17, 26-24, 25-16.
 
The Gryphons were well aware of what the experienced Marauders, loaded with senior talent, could do on the court.
 
"We knew going in that we would have to play a really good match to have a chance to win," said head coach Paul Funk. "We managed to control our errors but they played better than us and we got beat.
 
"Our compete level was good and our energy was good."
 
Guelph (2-9), coming off a solid win over the Lakehead Thunderwolves at home last weekend, put up a good fight in the first two sets against the division-leading Marauders. But with two sets already sewed up, McMaster showed its class. The hosts quickly went up 3-0 in the third set and then led 17-8 after a Hailey Kranics kill. Guelph didn't quit and got to within five at 20-15. The Gryphons grabbed some momentum when they produced three straight kills during the run, two coming from Lisa Wedel. But Mac rattled off four straight points before a Maicee Sorensen kill ended the match.

 
Michaela Hellinga led the Gryphons with nine kills, while Alex Curran paced the team with 26 assists. Hazel Atkins and Tara Tanasijevic had 9 and 7 digs respectively. Guelph committed 16 errors to McMaster's 11, and had 31 kills compared to 50 for the Marauders, 33 of them coming from the trio of Kranics (a match-high 14), Aleks Arsovic (10), and Sorensen (9).
 
While McMaster flashed its power, the OUA West leader was also far more efficient with a hitting percentage of .348, while the Gryphons were at .158.
 
McMaster (9-2) got off to a strong start in the opening set but the young Gryphons provided plenty of resistance, with both teams making few errors early. The Marauders built a 12-10 lead and then took four of the next five points. McMaster closed well, scoring six of the final seven to win 25-17.
 
The Gryphons fought hard in the second set, despite having to deal with a dominating performance from Kranics (17 points in total). Guelph's 7-2 run helped to build an 11-7 lead for the visitors but Kranics was the key to Mac's rebound in the set. The Gryphons crept back into it and showed resilience getting to 24-24. Carly Heath made a great one-handed dig for the hosts, enabling Arsovic to bang one off the Guelph blockers for a narrow 26-24 win.
 
"We competed well," Funk said of the second set. "We had one bad stretch where we made some errors and that let them get back into the set."
 
Funk said the Gryphons' two matches in 2018 have been played at a higher level than prior to the holiday break, which is reason for optimism. The team has statistical goals each match and the numbers have generally been within the acceptable range.
 
"We're getting better," Funk said, noting that he wants Guelph to carry those improving habits into Saturday's match at home with Brock.