GUELPH – Sometimes, young players just need a few good results to turn a season around. The Guelph Gryphons women's volleyball team is trending in that direction after another solid performance in the month of January. The Gryphons started strong and then fought to hold off the Brock Badgers 3-1 Saturday night at the GGAC. Guelph took the first two sets 25-12 and 25-15, while the last two were much closer at 23-25 and 25-23.
 
Guelph (3-9) has now won two of three matches in 2018, and was competitive in its loss to the OUA West leaders McMaster Friday night. The Gryphons didn't give Brock (3-7) much space early, dictating the play both offensively and defensively, which made it difficult for the Badgers to finish points.
 
"We talked about wanting to start fast because they played a long five-setter the night before at home," said head coach Paul Funk. "We wanted to jump on them early and did a good job following our game plan. We also made some individual plays, some one-on-one blocks that were big. That really kept them down and gave us energy."
 
Left side Michaela Hellinga was a force with a match-high 20 kills, 10 digs, and 24.5 points, while middle blocker Libby Donevan had 12 kills and 16.5 points. Middle blocker Jessica Gormley added 6 kills and was a presence up front with 5 blocks. Setter Alex Curran had 39 assists and 10 digs. The Gryphons dominated from a statistical standpoint with more kills (48-38), assists (46-34), aces (8-4), digs (64-48) and blocks (16-11).

 
Guelph went up 2-0 quickly but had to dig deep after that. A Hazel Atkins kill gave Guelph an 11-5 lead in the deciding set. Brock responded with a couple mini runs and then scored five in a row beginning at 24-18 to put the visitors in a position to send the match to a fifth. But Hellinga ended those hopes with her 20^th kill of the night, securing the Gryphons' third win on the year.

Brock didn't quit despite being outplayed in the first two sets, jumping out to a 5-2 lead in the third with the help of a couple Guelph attack errors. The Gryphons gathered themselves and an angled Laura Duncan kill got them to within one at 7-6. But Guelph began to waste serves, including an error that put Brock up 24-20. The hosts rattled off three straight points but the Badgers took their only set on an Amy Cureton kill.
 
"We took our foot off the gas," Funk said of the third set. "We started thinking ahead too much and we lost our focus. I think we missed four serves and had we made even two of those, we might've won the set."
 
The win gives Guelph an important tiebreak advantage over the Badgers, who beat the Gryphons 3-1 earlier this season but have fewer total points.
 
Guelph jumped out to a quick lead in the opening set, utilizing a combination of power and defence. Gormley came up with a big block to put the hosts up 8-3. The Badgers rallied but back-to-back blocks, with Donevan involved in both, gave the Gryphons a 13-8 lead. Two straight Brock errors and another block from Hellinga and Gormley stretched the lead to 17-9. Hellinga then cleanly smothered another Badgers kill attempt for a 20-10 lead before Guelph took the first set on a Badgers attack error.
 
The teams exchanged points early in a second set that was tight for a while. A clean Gormley kill right down the middle of the court tied it 3-3 and minutes later, Duncan stretched high on the right side to block a Brock kill attempt for a 7-6 Guelph lead. The Gryphons got a bit of breathing room after back-to-back Brock errors and a kill from Duncan put them up 14-10. Donevan smashed an errant set from the visitors for a 16-11 lead and Gormley blocked to stretch it to 22-15. The senior then finished it with yet another clean kill that Brock players sprawling.
 
Funk points to the return of St. Catharines, ON native Donevan, who missed the first half of the season with a fractured foot, and the extra focus on minimizing errors, as to why the team has looked much sharper in 2018. Other than a brief dip in that third set, the Gryphons were upbeat and hungry.
 
"Libby's presence on the court gives others more confidence," said Funk, adding that he was impressed with rookie Lisa Wedel's work while the veteran was out injured.  "They respond when Libby's on the court.
 
"We're starting to gain some confidence now that we're winning a couple matches. It's easy to be confident and have energy when you're winning."
 
Guelph hosts the Waterloo Warriors at the GGAC Friday, Jan. 26. Match time is 6 pm.