TORONTO, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons men's volleyball team has taken down an OUA East giant already this season. And the resilient group almost beat another Saturday night in Toronto. The Gryphons rallied down two sets but fell just short in an agonizingly close 3-2 loss (31-33, 24-26, 25-23, 26-24, and 12-15) to the powerhouse Ryerson Rams.
 
The Gryphons clipped the OUA East-leading Queen's Gaels a couple weeks back and gave themselves a chance to repeat the feat against the second-place Rams. But after bouncing back from the heartbreak of losing a marathon first set and an equally-tight second in which the team squandered a lead, Guelph just didn't have enough to hold off Ryerson in the fifth.
 
Second-year Gryphon Zarko Ubiparip was sensational in racking up a team-high 19 kills. Jakson Paterson added 13 kills, while setter Gideon Dresser ran the offence well with 49 assists to go along with 7 digs.
 
Guelph was in it and looking to complete the comeback in the fifth but the team was derailed by three consecutive service errors. With the score 12-10 Ryerson, Xander Ketrzynski, who had a match-high 33 kills, made a huge block to extend the lead to three points. Ubiparip held the Rams off with consecutive kills but the match ended on a finish from Omari Young.
 
The Gryphons showed great resolve to send it to a fifth, beginning in the third set when they closed by scoring three of the last four points to make the match 2-1 Ryerson. The teams traded points in another competitive fourth set and at 23-24, Guelph got kills from Christian Bechard and Ubiparip before Nazyr Francis served up an ace for three straight points to square the match.
 
While losing the epic first set was tough, the Gryphons' biggest regret came in the second when they led 21-14 but allowed the Rams back in with a 5-0 run.
 
Guelph hit .222 in what was statistically-even match in virtually every category. 
 
Gryphon Take
"We shot ourselves in the foot in the second set by giving up that lead. And in the fifth set, there were too many service errors. You can't win five-setters like that. You have to be dialed in and we just weren't. They rattled us a little." – head coach Cal Wigston
 
The Record
Guelph is 8-5.
 
Next up
@ Waterloo, Sunday, Feb. 10, 6 pm