Box Score PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – The logjam in the OUA West women's volleyball standings made this an important weekend for the Guelph Gryphons. A win on a Sunday afternoon away at Trent was therefore important and the Gryphons did the job, sweeping the host Excalibur 3-0 in straight sets (27-25, 25-19 and 25-6) to hit the .500 mark again at 5-5.
 
Noa Pijl led the way with 11 kills and 5 blocks, and 2 aces, while Alex Curran had a team-high 17 assists. Tara Tanasijevic added 3 assists and a game-high 9 digs, with Michaela Hellinga adding 9 kills, 6 digs and an ace.

Guelph focused on remaining poised after a loss to the Toronto Varsity Blues the previous day. The Gryphons did just that, surviving a competitive first set before making a few adjustments that helped them execute better in the second and a decisive third.
 
After closing out the opening set to go up 1-0, Guelph trailed in the second. The Gryphons began to change speed in their attacks and it appeared to keep the Excalibur players off balance.
 
Guelph had one of its most dominant sets in recent memory in the third and most of it was credited to Pijl. The rookie's hard delivery was just too much for Trent to handle and the Gryphons scored 10 consecutive points on her serve to pull away from the hosts.
 
 
Gryphon Take
"Trent pushed us hard and played well, forcing us to use a lot of energy but we managed to squeak it out the first set. We weren't performing particularly well in the second. Ally Proulx, who is from Peterborough, helped give us a change of energy and we clawed our way back into it. The third set was pretty much all about Noah's serve and we got on a run. Our half of the league has gotten tighter this weekend so a win was mandatory. We talked about improving our mental toughness after yesterday's match, to take a breath and slow things down. They did a good job of that today." – head coach Paul Funk

 
The Record
Guelph is 5-5.

 
Next up
Queen's, Friday, Jan. 18, 6 pm @ Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre