GUELPH, ON – For the first time in just over three years, the Gryphons women's volleyball team called the W.F. Mitchell Centre home. And the old gym yielded the desired result. Friday night, the Gryphons won in straight sets (25-11, 25-19 & 25-18) over the visiting Lakehead Thunderwolves in the opening match of a weekend doubleheader. The match was played in the West Gym of the W.F. Mitchell Centre as a result of the OUA Wrestling Championships taking over the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre this weekend. With the win, the Gryphons improve to 7-6 on the season while the Thunderwolves fall to 1-14.

In the opening set, the Gryphons jumped out to an 8-3 lead early on and never looked back, closing out the set with a Lisa Wedel kill to end a long rally point, giving the Gryphons a decisive 25-11 set win. The two sides played a much tighter second set, with the Gryphons pulling away after the technical time out to earn a 25-19 set win. 

Helping lead the way for Guelph in the third set was third-year right side Jessica Chung, who did most of her damage in a memorable night that saw the human kinetics major finish with a team-high 10 kills and 14.0 points. The Gryphons held off a late push from the Thunderwolves in the third set and would close out the match with a 25-18 win.

OUA all-star setter Alex Curran set the tone for Guelph with 26 assists while Lisa Wedel finished with 13.0 points (9 kills, 1 ace, 3 blocks). 

"We played pretty well in set one, and we were pleased overall with the effort tonight," said Gryphons head coach Paul Funk. "In the second set, we lost focus a bit and didn't execute the way we wanted, but being able to close them out in straight sets is big in terms of not giving them momentum heading into tomorrow."

The Gryphons and Thunderwolves will cap off their weekend doubleheader with a Saturday afternoon matchup. Game time is set for 1pm in the W.F. Mitchell Centre.