LONDON, Ont. – There were moments when the Guelph Gryphons women's volleyball team showed its true potential throughout the 2018/19 season. Unfortunately, there just weren't enough of them to secure another playoff berth amongst the Gryphons' tough OUA West competitors. Guelph was looking to end on a high in its regular season finale but the team suffered a 3-0 road loss (23-25, 18-25, and 27-29) to the Western Mustangs in London Saturday night.
 
The Gryphons finish the season with an 8-11 record, having dropped five of the last six matches.
 
Departing senior Laura Duncan led the team with 9 kills in the final game of her Gryphon career, while standout rookie Cassidy Collins added 6 kills and an ace. Third-year setter Alex Curran had match-highs in both assists (24) and blocks (3), to go along with 6 digs.
 
The match was an opportunity for the whole roster to get some time on the court and Guelph showed good energy, especially in the third set despite a 2-0 deficit. The Gryphons had chances to win the set and get back into it but back-to-back kills from Kelsey Veltman and Kate Van Camp ended the match and the visitors' season.
 
Guelph played a sharp first set with 11 kills and just 3 errors but Western managed to go up 1-0 when Melissa Langegger finished with a cross-court kill. And the Mustangs used multiple runs to secure the second.
 
The Gryphons played well against a strong Western team considering the injection of new players in the lineup like second-year left side Ally Proulx and rookie middle Sasha Meshcherekova.
 
There is reason for optimism as the Gryphons were among the youngest teams in the OUA this season, meaning most of the core group will be back. Only Sophia Herrera and Duncan will move on from the team and key players like Michaela Hellinga, Hazel Atkins, libero Tara Tanasijevic, and Curran will be surrounded with talented newcomers, including Noa Pijl and Collins, who will have a full year of OUA experience under their belts.
 
Gryphon Take 
"We threw out some different lineups with the thought of getting some people who haven't played a lot some time against good competition. It was looking to next year a bit to see how they would react. For the most part, I was really pleased. They responded well and we battled hard. Ally and Sasha did a good job. With players who haven't been out there much, you expect some mistakes. We got bit a scrambly but our fight was good." 
 
"We have some pieces that we're excited about. For some of our young kids, they have developed this year and if they can continue in the right direction, it will help our team. I knew our division would be competitive. It was an outlier year with five teams reaching 10 wins. There were a couple matches that ended up costing us." – Gryphon head coach Paul Funk
 
The Record
Guelph is 8-11