GUELPH, ON – It doesn't matter if it's Senior Night, or Senior Day.
 
When it comes time to say goodbye to graduating players, the Guelph Gryphons women's volleyball team simply refuses to lose.
 
Sunday was Senior Day at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, and the Gryphs rallied for a dramatic and exciting 3-2 win over the Western Mustangs. Set scores were 25-19, 16-25, 17-25, 27-25, 15-13.
 
It was the sixth time in a row that the Gryphs have won on Senior Night or Senior Day.
 
"We kept it going for one more year, anyway," head coach Paul Funk said. "It's to the point now that it's a point of pride for the veterans about trying to play their best match on this day."
 
"It's the best feeling in the world," added Cayte Wilson, a fourth-year setter from Kelowna, BC. "I couldn't have asked for a better game."
 

Wilson was one of three players honoured on Sunday. Another was fourth-year left side Maddie Dedecker, who ended up as the hero when her kill at the end of the fifth set completed Guelph's comeback.
 
"That will definitely be one that I will never forget," the Dorchester, ON native said of her 13^th kill of the day. "This is my last home game ever, so it definitely meant a lot to end it like that."
 
That finish hadn't seemed likely when Western took control of the match by dominating the second and third sets. But the Gryphs kept their composure, reminding themselves that they had won the first set in equally dominating fashion over the first-place Mustangs.
 
"Winning the first set was pretty important, because it proved that we could beat them," Wilson said. "We had some hiccups in the second and third, and our energy went down, but we managed to pick it back up."


 
















"I think we were okay in terms of confidence," Dedecker said. "We knew coming into this game that if we played well, we knew we could do it. We just had to keep that mindset and play through it."
 
The Mustangs were just as determined, and the match featured a lot of long rallies and great defence on both sides.
 
"That was an exciting match to watch," Funk said. "(The Mustangs) played unbelievable defence the whole match. There were a lot of times we thought the ball was going to be down, and they kept coming back. We had to try and stay patient."
 
"I think our energy in this game was probably the best that we've had over the last couple of weeks," said fourth-year libero Kayla McMullen, from Aurora, ON, "and we just had to keep reminding ourselves, we've got great energy, let's just focus on this next set."


 
















"We just have a lot of determination," Wilson added. "It's our last game in this gym, so we just gave it our all. Win or lose, we just wanted to play our best."
 
Dedecker had 12 digs to go with her 13 kills, while Wilson had nine digs, three kills and 47 assists. McMullen had a team-high 18 digs.
 
Other Gryphs with big games included Victoria Golebiowski with 14 kills and 12 digs, Michaela Hellinga with 14 digs and 12 kills, and Jessica Gormley with 10 kills.
 
Sunday's win was important not just because it was Senior Day, but because the Mustangs came to Guelph having lost only one match this season. They drop to 13-2 in the standings while the third-place Gryphs improve to 11-5. They've won nine of their last 10 matches and now feel like there's no one they can't beat.


 
















"It's definitely an exciting feeling, beating the first-place team in our division, and I think now we've shown all of our competitors that we're a team that they should fear," said McMullen, who will return for a fifth season but wanted to be honoured on Sunday with Dedecker and Wilson.
 
"I wanted to finish off with the girls that I started with. They've been the girls that I go to whenever we're facing any issues. They're my number ones," she said. "That's why I'm celebrating."
 
Sunday's match caps the home schedule for the Gryphs, who finish off the regular season with matches on the road against Ryerson, Trent and Toronto.
 

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