Box Score
 
Guelph, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphons men's volleyball team dropped a close 3-2 final Friday night to the Queen's Gaels in the team's home opener. Set scores were 21-25, 25-22, 25-23, 19-25 and 15-7.
  Patrick Strzalkowski led the Gryphon offence with 16 points (16 kills) followed by Connor Cressman with 12 points (12 kills) and Rafael Leite with 10 points (5 kills, 2 aces, 3 blocks).
 
The first set saw the Gryphons jump out to an early 15-11 lead which they held for most of the set. The Gaels did get as close as 22-20 but were not able to get any closer, as the Gryphons used strong serving and net play to close out the set with a 25-21 win. In the second set the Gryphons led for most of the first half, until the Gaels fought back following several errors by the Gryphons to get within one point 12-11. The teams battled back and forth until the Gaels grabbed their first lead of the game 22-21 and went on to win 25-22.
 
The Gaels took the lead early in the third set and were comfortably ahead 21-13 until the Gryphons closed the game with a 7-0 run to get within one point 21-20. From there, Queen's ended the set with two straight points 25-23.
 
In the fourth set, the Gryphons took an early lead and maintained a three-point advantage through the first half of the set. From there, the Gryphons surged ahead 22-13, but then took their foot off the gas and Queens seized the opportunity. The Gaels went on a 6-0 run until the Gryphons closed out the set with a 25-19 win.
 
In the deciding set, it was Queen's turn to jump out to an early lead at 3-0 to force a Guelph timeout. The Gryphons lost their defensive intensity allowing a number of balls to fall uncontested resulting in the Gaels building on their lead to take a convincing 7-0 lead to force another Gryphon timeout. Guelph clawed their way back but it was too little too late as the Gaels closed out the set 15-7 for the victory.
 
The Gryphons are back in action tomorrow night for a game against the RMC Paladins at 6:00 p.m.