Gryphons take down No. 9-ranked Ryerson in four sets

GUELPH, ON – Friday night at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre, the Gryphons men's volleyball team kept their playoff hopes alive by winning in four sets over the No. 9-ranked team in the country in the Ryerson Rams. Set scores were 17-25, 25-21, 25-18 & 25-22. With the win, the Gryphons improve to 6-11 on the season while Ryerson falls to 12-6. The Gryphons now sit two points back of the final playoff spot with three games remaining on the regular season schedule.

"We have it in our change room. We have it on the sleeves of our shirt. Attitude and effort. If you can put together attitude and effort every night, good things can happen," Gryphon coach Cal Wigston said after the game.

That attitude and effort helped propel the Gryphons forward to go on late runs in the final three sets of the match in front of what was an energetic home crowd in the West Gym. That energetic crowd was silenced in the opening set of the match as the Rams were able to show why they are one of the top teams in the country, jumping out to a 5-0 lead and taking the opening set 25-17.

The second set was back-an-forth as both teams traded point for point in a highly contested set. The pivotal point of the set, and maybe the match, would come late in that second set as substitute and first year player Samuel Nothnagel checked into the match with the Gryphons leading 18-17 in the set. Nothnagel would provide a major spark for the team. Sitting at 21 all, Nothnagel would leave his mark on the set picking up an emphatic kill to give Guelph the lead. The match and the momentum of the match would flip towards Guelph when Nothnagel would hammer back-to-back aces, followed by Luke Woud finishing the job on the following point as the Gryphs would tie the match up at a set apiece after taking the second set 25-21.

Gryphons third year standout Josh Green led the way in the third set, as 4 of his match-high 14 kills helped spark the Gryphons on an 11-2 run as Guelph took the third set 25-18.

Some confusion would ensue in the fourth set after the Gryphons were penalized for an incorrect lineup. "The down official thought it said 7 but the scorekeeper put it in as 1 so we got caught with that. I almost blew it but we did alright" said Coach Wigston after the match. The Gryphons did more than alright. The attitude and effort was once again shining through as the Gryphons turned a 20-16 deficit into a 25-22 match-clinching victory by going on a run that saw them take 9 of the final 11 points of the fourth set.

The Gryphons will look to build off of the impressive victory and  extend their win streak to three games on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 14) when they travel to Toronto to take on the 9-7 Varsity Blues. That match starts at 1pm.

Source: Guelph Gryphons