GUELPH, Ont. - On Saturday night (Feb. 18) the Guelph Gryphons men's volleyball team took on the RMC Paladins in their second match in as many days. The Gryphons came into Saturday's game coming off a straight set win over the Paladins the night before and looking for another win having yet to officially clinch entry into the 2023 OUA playoffs. With a number of other games occurring around the conference the Gryphons knew with a win their chances of making it to the post season increased dramatically. It was another dominant win for the Gryphons, taking their second straight-set victory over the Paladins 25-15, 25-18, 25-19.

The match saw both the first and second sets play out in very similar fashion. In the first two sets the Gryphons jumped out to early leads and were able to use their momentum to carry them through to set wins. The only difference between the two was in the second set RMC was able to tie the game midway through the frame 11-11 before the Gryphons went on a 14-7 run, which included an 8-point streak, to claim a two sets to none lead heading into the third. In the third set the visiting Paladins got off to their best start of the night, culminating with a 12-7 lead and looking in clear control of the game. From that point the Gryphons went on to allow back-to-back scores just one time, and dominate on offense, outscoring RMC 18-7 for the remainder of the match to secure a 3-0 win. 

The Gryphons were led by 6-foot-7 right-side hitter Jacob Schweyer who led the U of G men's team with 17 total points. The Sudbury native accounted for nearly a third of the Gryphon points with his 14 kills 2 service aces and a solo block. Opposite Schweyer was left-side hitter and senior, Arjun Selhi. Selhi, who was honoured prior to the match as the Gryphons lone graduating senior, totalled 14 points of his own with 10 kills and a pair of service aces and blocks in his final game on his home court. Setter Jack Richards also put on an impressive performance, assisting on 35 of the 46 Gryphon kills while also adding a pair of kills himself to go along with his 11 digs on the night. 

The win over the Paladins was not the only thing to go right for the Gryphons on Saturday night as they received some help from the Queen's Gaels who defeated the Waterloo Warriors in five sets to eliminate the Warriors from playoff contention. With one less team to worry about the Gryphons (10-10) will now wait on the results of the match between the Nipissing Lakers and Western Mustangs, which is set to be played tomorrow at 2pm, before they can officially say they have claimed their spot in the OUA playoffs.