WATERLOO, Ont. – Saturday night at the Physical Activities Complex on the campus of the University of Waterloo, the Gryphons men's volleyball team suffered a 3-sets-to-1 loss to the Waterloo Warriors. Set scores were 25-18, 19-25, 21-25 & 22-25. With the loss, the Gryphons fall to 5-8 on the season while Waterloo improves to 5-7.
Meeting for the second time in just over a week, the Gryphons arrived in Waterloo looking to build off of an impressive straight sets win over the Warriors back on Jan. 26 at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre. Just as they did a week ago, the Gryphs were able to get off to a hot start, opening up an early 9-3 lead and dominating in the middle en route to taking the opening set 25-18.
The Warriors would take advantage of some Gryphon errors in the 2nd set to draw even. With the 3rd set tied at 17-17, Waterloo would win four straight points to take control of the set, which they would go on to win 25-21. The Gryphons would start slow in the 4th set, but would ride the serve of Zach Newman to get back into the match, trimming the deficit to 20-19. U of G's bid to force a fifth and decisive final set would fall short as the Warriors would come out on top of a tight 4th set 25-22.
Zach Newman led the way for the Gryphons, racking up a team-high 20 kills.
The Gryphons (5-7) remain in the thick of a playoff hunt in the OUA West with four matches still remaining on the regular season schedule. Up next for the Gryphons, a home matchup against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday, Feb. 9. That match will be followed by a Saturday night contest against Trent on Feb. 10.
