GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's volleyball team will officially get their 2022-23 OUA regular season underway on Friday night (November 4) when they host the Nipissing Lakers in the season-opener. This season, OUA women's volleyball returns to a full, 20-game regular season schedule, with all 14-teams in the conference grouped into a single division (with the top 8 making the playoffs).
The Gryphons will play three straight home games to open up their new season, beginning with this weekend's doubleheader versus Nipissing (Friday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 5).
"We have a younger group this year, but we are looking forward to seeing how our players develop over the course of the season," says Gryphons women's volleyball head coach,
Paul Funk, who enters his 18th season in charge of the University of Guelph women's volleyball program. "In terms of getting settled with our lineup rotations and some new faces in new places, that will likely take a bit of time at the beginning of the season, but hopefully we can peak at the right time of the season and be playing our best volleyball down the stretch in 2023."
Leading the way for the Gryphons in 2022-23 is 19-year-old sophomore,
Sophie Fernback. The Vancouver, BC native impressed a season ago as a freshman, earning a spot on the 2021-22 OUA All-Rookie Team.
The 6-foot left side is the only returning starter for the Gryphons in 2022-23, and will look to build upon her standout rookie season last year, where she finished the 2021-22 season with a team-high 85 kills. Barrie, Ontario native,
Jaymie Stephenson, returns for her fifth season with the U of G women's volleyball program, with the 22-year-old physics major named one of the team's co-captains for the 2022-23 season. Stephenson has shown tremendous versatility during her Gryphon career, and will look to make a permanent home at right side this season in the U of G lineup. Additional depth at outside hitter is provided by a pair of rookies in
Briar Crerar and
Sarah McNames. Crerar is a 6-foot rookie out of Pickering who has shown tremendous athleticism early in her OUA career, while
Sarah McNames, a 5-10 human kinetics major from Perth, Ontario, could also make an immediate impact as a true freshman.
In the middle, the Gryphons are led by
Ella MacKenzie, a 6-foot-1 human kinetics major who returns for her fourth year with the program and third-year of eligibility. The Edmonton, Alberta native will take on a bigger role in the middle this season for the Gryphons and has made some significant strides offensively in her game heading into the 2022-23 campaign.
Sam Ingleton (6-foot-1, Orillia, ON) and
Maya Morabito (5-11, Grimsby, ON) will also help anchor the Gryphons at middle blocker this season. At setter, the Gryphons will start a new era following the graduation of perennial OUA All-Star, Alex Curran, a season ago.
Ella Carter takes over the starting centre duties, with the Hamilton native now in her fourth year with the program and third year of eligibility. Carter, an animal biology major, was named a co-captain for the Gryphons this season and is an accurate passer who also possesses outstanding tactical instincts.
Alexa Shields, a second-year management economics and finance major from Aurora, provides added depth at setter. At libero, the Gryphons turn to
Mackenzie Proulx, a second-year marketing management major from Peterborough. Proulx has shown excellent serve-receive skills during the preseason and will help anchor the U of G passing in 2022-23.
After Friday night's season opener against Nipissing, the Gryphons will return to the court 24 hours later to once again host the Lakers in a Saturday night matchup at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre. Tickets are now on sale at gryphons.ca/tickets, with all home games streamed live online at
www.oua.tv.
