HAMILTON, Ont. - With the hopes of heading to their first OUA gold medal game since 2010, the No. 10-nationally ranked Guelph Gryphons knew they were going to have their hands full with the No. 6-nationally ranked Toronto Varsity Blues Friday night in Hamilton. Battling all night with the Varsity Blues, the Gryphons found themselves on the wrong end of a hard fought four set loss. With each set coming right down to the wire, the final match finished 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23 in favour of Toronto.
Trying to slow down a potent Varsity Blue's attack, the Gryphons held their ground for much of the match, which allowed them to be right in the thick of it up until the very end.
Coming out of the gates, it was the Gryphons who were able to hold the early advantage, albeit a slim one. Going up 7-4 and later 12-9 Guelph started to apply the first bit of pressure in the match. However, the Varsity Blues were able to make a push of their own, ultimately taking a 16-14 lead in to the technical time-out. As the two teams continued to battle and trade points, the Gryphons got a kill from Oliver Hissink to tie the opening set 23-23. Unfortunately for Guelph, a Toronto kill, followed by a service ace would net the Varsity Blues the 1st set, 25-23.
Looking to bounce back in the 2nd set, the Gryphons quickly found themselves in an early hole that they would have to dig out of. Five points in to the set, Gryphon's head coach Cal Wigston would call a time-out with his team down 4-1. As Guelph did their best to push back they would pull within two points of the Blues multiple times only to have Toronto respond with a couple of points in a row of their own. Down 19-14, the Gryphs pulled within three, but from there Toronto would take six of the next eleven points to win the set 25-21.
With their OUA gold medal hopes seemingly on life support as they fell behind 2-0 in the match, the Gryphons were hardly fazed. Fresh off being named the OUA West Rookie of the Year, Gryphon's freshman Jonathan Pickett decided it was time to make his mark. Single-handedly putting his team on his back while taking over the must win 3rd set, the Wiarton, Ontario product smashed five kills in the first half of the set as the Gryphons took a 16-13 lead at the technical time-out. Pickett would then hammer three more kills in the latter half to help get the Gryphons home in the 3rd, as they took the set 25-21.
Carrying over the momentum of their 3rd set win, the Gryphons got off to a tremendous start in the 4th. Winning nine of the first twelve rallies, Guelph jumped out to a 9-3 lead over the Varsity Blues. Being the top-10 team that they are though, Toronto continued to battle back, slowly chipping away at the Gryphon's lead. With Guelph up 16-14 at the technical, the Gryphs were eventually able to push the advantage to 21-18. However, that is when the Varsity Blues began to make their move. Winning four of the next five points, Toronto pulled the 4th set even 22-22. On the ensuing point, the Gryphons appeared to win the rally as the Toronto hit sailed out of bounds, but a net violation was called against Guelph giving the Blues the 23-22 edge. After Toronto won the next rally, the Gryphons fought off one match point, but were unable to work around the second one, falling 25-23.
Although in a losing effort, multiple Gryphon's put forth very strong performances. Tallying the match high, Pickett finished with 19 kills. Meanwhile, with seven kills to his name Zarko Ubiparip accounted for eleven Guelph points. Gideon Dresser finished the match with a team high 29 assists, while Jakson Paterson led the Gryphs in blocks with three.
With an OUA bronze medal, as well as the final OUA spot at the U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championships on the line, the Gryphons will return to the court tomorrow afternoon taking on the host McMaster Marauders. First serve for the bronze medal match is set for 5:30 on Saturday.
