WINDSOR, Ont. – A win and they were in. The Guelph Gryphons men's volleyball were one victory away from clinching a berth in the OUA postseason. They didn't get it – but it all worked out in the end. Despite falling 3-1 (25-21, 12-25, 19-25, 16-25) to the Windsor Lancers Friday night at the St. Denis Centre, Guelph still secured fourth place in the OUA West with the Waterloo Warriors dropping a five-setter to the Western Mustangs later in the evening.
 
The loss was the Gryphons' fourth in a row and drops them to 8-8 on the year, though Saturday's regular season finale in London tomorrow night is no longer a must-win situation.
 
Second-year left side Zarko Ubiparip led Guelph with 13 kills to go along with 6 digs. Departing senior Zach Newman had 8 kills, 3 aces, and a block, while setter Gideon Dresser led the team in both assists (25) and digs (7).
 
The Gryphons came out of the gates on fire, producing 14 kills against just 3 errors in a first set where they hit an astounding .407. But the decline in play was steep from there as Guelph had just 23 kills in the final three sets, with 28 errors.
 
The visitors went up 23-15 in the first set but had to hang on when Windsor won 6 of 7 points to make it close. Guelph was right there in the second down just 11-10 but the Lancers went on a crippling 14-2 run to pull away and even out the match at a set apiece.
 
After dropping the third to trail 2-1 on the night, Guelph took another hit when Windsor jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The Lancers were just too efficient in the decisive set, with 15 kills and four errors.
 
Guelph had trouble getting past Windsor's front line as the hosts registered 15 blocks compared to 3 for the Gryphons. And the Lancers' duo of Brad Gyemi and Pierce Johnson proved difficult to handle. They combined for 29 kills, with Johnson showing some good defensive work registering 12 digs.  


Gryphon Take
" We played great in the first and third set. Zarko was our offensive leader. We were not able to match the offensive power of Windsor, who had an incredible passing night. We showed our capacity to play at a high level but with several first- and second-year players on the floor, we were challenged by a top-10 team in Canada." ~ Gryphon head coach Cal Wigston
  

The Record
Guelph is 8-8. 

 
Next up
@ Western, Friday, Feb. 23, 8 pm