WVB RECAP: Gryphons Show Great Resilience in Pursuit of Playoff Spot, but Ultimately Fall Short to Lancers

GUELPH, Ont. – It was a playoff-type atmosphere in the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre on Sunday afternoon. The Gryphons women’s volleyball team squared off against the Windsor Lancers in the final game of both teams’ regular season schedules. The winner would claim the 5th and final playoff spot in the OUA West Division, earning the chance to play the No. 4-seed Wednesday night in the first OUA playoff game. The Gryphons showed tremendous resilience throughout the entire match, continuously responding to the Lancers offence. Led by Jessica Chung’s 15 kills, Ashley Vang’s 18 digs, and Alex Curran’s game-high 45 assists, the Gryphons made a strong effort in their push for a playoff spot, but fell short to the Windsor Lancers losing 3-sets-to-1. Set scores were 29-27, 21-25, 18-25 & 22-25.

The Gryphons women’s volleyball team faced adversity early on in this matchup. The first set saw the visiting Windsor Lancers lead the entire set. The Gryphons continuously battled to stay in it, but the Lancers kept responding to maintain their lead. After the technical timeout, which saw Windsor leading 16-9, the home team grabbed 9 of the next 11 points in an impressive swing of momentum to tie the game up at 18-18. The Lancers went up on the Gryphons again, gaining a 24-21 lead, but the Gryphons continued to respond, tying it up at 24-24 and setting up an exciting finish to the first set. The two teams would go back and forth until the Gryphons managed to pull away, on the back of some very strong hitting from Jessica Chung, taking the first set 29-27 in impressive comeback fashion.

The  second set started out in similar fashion to the first, with the visiting Lancers jumping out to an early 5-0 lead. The Lancers would continue to lead until the Gryphons managed to tie it up at 12-12. From there, the Lancers once again pulled ahead of the Gryphons, taking the next 7 points. The Gryphons responded with a strong effort in attempt to come back late once again, but the Lancers held them off to take the second set by a score of 25-21, and tying the match up at 1 set apiece.

The third set started out much different from the first two, as both teams refused to budge. The Gryphons’ defence, led by libero Ashley Vang, held strong against the Lancers’ aggressive attack. They traded leads back and forth early on, but eventually, the Gryphons found themselves battling back again. Down 24-16, the home team did their best to make up ground but ended up dropping the third set 25-18. With their backs against the wall, down 2 sets to 1, the Gryphons would have to win the next two sets to qualify for the 2022 OUA Playoffs.

The fourth set was another tight battle, the Gryphons were once again caught chasing the Lancers in the middle portion of this set, down 20-15, the Gryphons’ resilience would have to shine through once again if they wanted to claim that final playoff spot. Led by a strong hitting trio of Jessica Chung, Lisa Wedel, and Sophie Fernback, the Gryphons tied the set up at 22-22. Unfortunately, though, the Gryphons efforts were not enough. The Windsor Lancers would go on to take the fourth set 25-22, winning the match 3-1 and claiming the final OUA West Division Playoff spot.

The Gryphons finish the season with a 2-8 record.

The end of this season was also the end of 7 graduating Gryphons’ careers with the team. These seniors were recognized at the end of the game for their incredible contributions to the women’s volleyball program, they include: Key middle-blocker, Sasha Meshcherekova; OUA all-star setter Alex Curran; the country’s leader in digs per set, libero Ashley Vang; team captain and starting middle-blocker, Lisa Wedel; go-to hitter and steady producer, Jessica Chung; the team’s leader in blocks, Cassidy Collins; and multi-position player and key serve receiver, Noa Pijl.