GUELPH, Ont. - With an electric atmosphere filling the GGAC Saturday night, the action on the volleyball court was just as good to go along with it. Going the distance for a five set thriller, the Guelph Gryphons and Brock Badgers gave the Gryphons faithful plenty to get off their seat about all night long, and in the end, the Gryphons sent the fans home happy with a 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-6) victory.
In the beginning, there was very little between the two teams. Both sides exchanged points up until the midway point of the set. With the Gryphons leading 16-14 they began to take control of the set. Extending their lead to 21-15, Guelph forced the Badgers to call a time-out as they attempted to re-group. For Brock, the time-out worked. Able to battle back, the Badgers got the set tied 24-24, but the Gryphons then took the next two points to establish a 1-0 lead in the match.
As they played the second set, the match continued to play out as more of the same. With both teams fighting for each and every point, the set remained tight in to the midway point. After the Gryphons were able to go up by three points (13-10), the Badgers again responded before taking a 22-18 lead over Guelph. Gryphons were able to get back within two points, but unfortunately no closer as the Badgers evened the match with a 25-23 win.
With both sides looking to establish the lead in sets heading in to the third, Guelph and Brock played their closest set so far. Outside of one four point advantage, the score reflected no lead bigger than two for much of the set. Tied 22-22 late, the visitors managed to tally the next two points to earn a set point. Although the Gryphons were able to fight off the first one, they were not successful on the second one as the Badgers took the set 25-23.
Now trailing the Badgers two sets to one, the Gryphons had no choice but to win the fourth set if they hoped to extend the contest. For the home side, they came out and did exactly that. After going up early in the set, the Gryphons continued to roll through. The Badgers were able to keep it close at times, however, Guelph was able to pull away throughout the middle portion of the set en route to 25-18 win, which meant just like their women counterparts had earlier, the men were off to a fifth and final set.
In the final set, both teams were able to use their attacks right out of the gate. With each side exchanging big hit for big hit, the scoreboard did not show much separation between the two. As the first seven points of the set played out, the biggest lead either side was able to create was just one. However, after that, the Gryphons were able to lock down four of the next five points and take an 8-4 lead in to the switch. Once the two teams changed sides, Guelph seemed to be able to simply capture all momentum. Able to increase their lead slowly but surely the rest of the way, the Gryphons secured the match with a 15-6 5th set victory.
The Gryphons will resume their OUA regular season schedule on Valentine's Day when they head to Kingston to take on the RMC Paladins.
