GUELPH, Ont. – The 2019-20 OUA regular season schedule is officially underway for the University of Guelph women's volleyball team and it was a weekend sweep to get the Gryphons off to a 2-0 start. The Gryphons started their new season with a statement, winning in four sets on Saturday night versus the No. 5-nationally ranked Waterloo Warriors. After dropping a tight opening set (26-28) against a strong Waterloo team that went 17-2 a season ago to finish atop the OUA West, the Gryphons would take control of the match, winning each of the next three sets in convincing fashion (25-20, 25-13 & 25-17) to earn a win in their home and season opener.
"We hung tough tonight," said Gryphon head coach
Paul Funk following his team's win on Saturday night.
"We didn't give up too many runs of point. Waterloo really had to earn all of their points and that allowed us to play a bit more comfortably.
Ally Proulx played really well tonight,
Sasha Meshcherekova played well in the middle and slowed down their offence. But it was a balanced attack overall for us."
Jade Ziebarth, a fifth-year transfer from the Windsor Lancers now in her first season at U of G, led the Gryphons with a team-high 16 kills versus the Warriors, while OUA all-star setter
Alex Curran set the tone for Guelph with 39 assists.
After an impressive win on Saturday night over a nationally-ranked opponent, the Gryphons were right back in action on Sunday afternoon with another home game, this time against the Trent Excalibur. Trent arrived in Guelph with a 1-0 record after a five-set win over Lakehead, but the Gryphons overpowered Trent from the opening set, cruising to a straight sets victory (25-15, 25-12 & 25-14) to improve to 2-0 on the season.
"Trent plays a much different style than what we saw on Saturday night versus Waterloo," said Gryphon head coach Paul Funk. "But our girls did a good job focusing on what they needed to execute on our side of the net. We've been preaching to them that, if they do that, the results will take care of themselves. Our half of the league is going to be tight this year, so every win we can get is important."
The 2-0 Gryphons will now hit the road for a tough test as they travel to London on Wednesday (Oct. 30) to face the No. 9-nationally ranked Western Mustangs. The Gryphons will then continue down the 401 to face the Windsor Lancers on Saturday night (Nov. 2).
