HAMILTON, Ont. – There will be several OUA West battles ahead for Guelph Gryphons women's volleyball team. The young Gryphons have been using the preseason to establish their regulars and prepare for a tough division, with the latest tune up taking place in Hamilton at the McMaster Thanksgiving Classic last weekend. A week after taking four of five matches in an exhibition tournament in Ottawa, Guelph went 1-2 to finish seventh in the Marauders' event.
 
The Gryphons started well in their opener against the Ottawa Gee-Gees, taking the first two sets 25-22 and 25-18 but the team stalled after that, losing the next three 19-25, 15-25, and 10-15. Guelph met up with the Lakehead Thunderwolves in their next match and fell behind 2-0 (25-27, 22-25) before putting together an excellent third set, which they won 25-14. Unfortunately, the team couldn't maintain that momentum and lost 25-14 in the fourth to fall 3-1.
 
The Gryphons did finish the tournament on a high with a solid 3-1 win (25-20, 18-25, 25-21, 25-19) over the Nipissing Lakers.

  
Gryphon Take
"We used these matches to allow everyone to play and hopefully develop. We had some good stretches of play but we were also wildly inconsistent, which won't be good enough against our division opponents this year. Our half of the league will be considerably tougher this season and there won't be an easy match anywhere on our schedule. We will use our final preseason matches to see which combinations of players will produce our best lineup going forward into the regular season." – head coach Paul Funk
 
 
Up Next
Thompson Rivers University and UBC Thunderbirds, Friday, Oct. 12, 10:30am/1:30pm @ West Coast Classic in Vancouver, BC
Trinity Western University, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2:30pm @ West Coast Classic in Vancouver, BC