LONDON – There are no nights off in the stacked OUA West. And the Guelph Gryphons men's volleyball team had a huge late-season test in London to keep hopes of a playoff berth alive. The Gryphons couldn't hang on, losing a heartbreaking five-setter to Western (25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 16-25, 12-15) that eliminated the 2016 OUA bronze medalists from postseason contention.
 
Guelph head coach Cal Wigston and his players were aware of their opponent's potential after the Mustangs dismantled No. 9-ranked McMaster last week, an indication of just how difficult the division was this year.
 
"We knew they would be tough and hard to beat," Wigston said of Western. "But we wanted to compete. It was a frustrating night."

 
Zachary Newman and Matthew Baxter led Guelph with 13 and 12 kills respectively, while Daiken Edwards had 23 assists. The Gryphons hit .143 per cent on the night and committed 31 errors, 12 of them coming in the fourth set that gave Western momentum.
 
Wigston was impressed with Newman, who did everything that was asked of him playing in a new role on the left side. And the coach added that Joshua Green had an exceptional performance passing and playing defence, which buoyed Guelph's hopes of leaving London with a win.
 
The Mustangs were smart to focus their efforts on 2016 All-Canadian Kendrick Kerr, who still managed 9 kills despite plenty of attention.
 
"Ken had two guys on him on all night," said Wigston.
 
The Gryphons appeared in control up 2-1 in sets but the Mustangs, a powerful team that's sits second in the OUA West, found another gear in the fourth before a 5-0 run in the middle of the decisive fifth set helped them pull away to take the victory.
 
It was a grueling match with the first few sets competitive all the way to the end. Guelph was behind early in the opening set but overcame a slew of service errors and eventually took over, as Newman had kills on the final two points. Western began the second with four straight points and withstood a couple Gryphon runs that eventually tied it up 19-19. The Mustangs scored four straight again to lead 23-19 and evened the match on a Chris Newcombe kill.
 
Guelph showed plenty of resilience in the third set after trailing 5-1 and 7-2. Down 16-13, the visitors rang up five straight before a Western service error and a Baxter block on consecutive points gave them a big 25-21 win.
 
"We were trying hard to hand them that first set but the guys stayed focused," said Wigston. "In the fifth, we just couldn't get anything done."
 
Guelph will close out the season against the Windsor Lancers on the road Sunday. The match begins at 3 pm.