GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's volleyball team was well aware that digging a big hole for themselves in the OUA West would be a problem. The Gryphons put together a great effort and picked up the their first win of the season, defeating the Western Mustangs 3-1 (25-18, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23) at the GGAC Saturday afternoon.
 
Winless through two matches, Guelph was sharp on its home court. Lisa Wedel had a team-high 12 kills, with third-year left side Michaela Hellinga adding 10 more, with 14 digs. Alex Curran worked the offence well and produced 36 assists and 14 digs of her own, while libero Tara Tanasijevic was a defensive workhorse, recording 27 digs.
 
The Gryphons took a commanding 2-0 lead in the match but slipped a bit in the third, which Western took 25-23 to force a fourth. It was tight throughout the decisive set but the Gryphons but with Guelph up 24-23, Hellinga came up with a massive block to ice it.
 
The Gryphons started slow and fell behind 6-1 in the opening set before turning it around with a big run. It ended 25-18 when a Western serve went long for a 1-0 Guelph lead. The hosts were in a battle in the second up 15-13 but went on a 9-3 run to get it to set point at 24-16. Western was called for a bad set to give Guelph a 1-0 lead.
 
The Gryphons played a clean first two sets with just 9 combined efforts on their way to the 2-0 lead.
 
Guelph implemented a defensive wrinkle on Western star Kelsey Veltman, which appeared to throw the Mustangs off as they made a few extra errors.
 
 
Gryphon Take
"It's a huge win for us. The girls did well in the first two sets to play pretty steady. Our serving was good against them. The third set got away but we were able to hang on in the fourth. We have to get good playing in those pressure situations, we have to get comfortable doing that. A great win for the girls and really important for their overall mindset." – head coach Paul Funk

 
The Record
Guelph is 1-2.

 
Next up
Windsor, Sunday, Nov. 11, 1 pm @ Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre