Lancers edged by Gryphons in five sets

The Windsor Lancer men’s volleyball team travelled up to Guelph to take on the Guelph Gryphons in the 2024 OUA Forsyth Cup quarterfinals in what was dubbed as the 4th seed versus 5th seed ranked contest going in. 
 
In expected fashion, the game was evenly matched throughout and equally competitive however the host Gryphons managed to edge out the Lancers 3-2 (25-18, 26-28, 25-18, 22-25, and 11-15) to advance to the OUA semifinals next weekend in front of their home jubilant crowd at the Guelph Gryphons Athletic Centre despite a valiant effort put forth by the visitors from Windsor who were the 2023 OUA silver medalists last season. 
 
GAME STATS
Graduating senior and outside hitter Luca Nastase led the Lancers in his final game with the blue and gold with his 14-kill performance on the evening in the playoff eliminating loss.
 
Lancers captain Gustavo Siqueira also produced an impressive 10 kill performance despite the shortfall to the Gryphons. 
 
Markus Law-Heese led the Lancers defensively with 10 digs while the blue and gold’s setter managed to dish out 38 assists as well in the five-set thriller that went the distance in the tight contest dropped.
 
Guelph was led by Jonathan Pickett who carried the Gryphons past the Lancers with his monstrous 20 kill performance and helped to punch the ticket for Guelph into the semi-finals next week.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lancers managed to come out of the gate with a huge triple block to set the tone early in the first set before finding a way to steadily generate momentum throughout the first set.  With that Windsor would find a way to take it in a controlled 25-18 fashion and go up 1-0 in the match.
 
The Gryphons stuck with the blue and gold’s play throughout the duration of the first set but found their groove in the second set bouncing back in front of their home crowd on hand and achieving a remarkable 28-26 score with extra points necessary to tie the match up at 1-1.
 
The third set found Windsor in control again for the most part with the Lancers not wanting to go down 2-1 to the Gryphons and instead battling hard to cruise to another 25-18 set win and take a set advantage lead of their own on Guelph with a 2-1 match lead.
 
Not wanting to go down on home court, the Gryphons took flight in the fourth set with their season on the line and found a way to remain ahead throughout the set despite pressure being applied by the Lancers.  Guelph would find a way down the stretch to get the job done to stave off playoff elimination and trigger a fifth and final deciding set to push Windsor to the brink.
 
In the fight to fifteen points, with both teams’ seasons on the line as well as one ticket to the semi-finals next weekend, both squads took to the court with elevated intensity caused by the high stakes. 
 
The Gryphons would jump out to a 6-2 lead before the Lancers needed to use a time out.  Following the Lancers time out called they managed to force the Gryphons to need to use a time out of their own after going on a run that swung the pendulum in their favour and made it a 7-6 Guelph lead to keep the contest interesting.
 
Guelph would be ignited and electrified by their home crowd’s spirits and Windsor appeared to be in a daze by the extra buzz created by the atmosphere at the GGAC late in the fifth set.  The blue and gold would remain in the race but down by a two-points spread towards the cut off score of 15 which later became a 14-11 match point for the Gryphons.
 
With that, Guelph was able to seal the deal on the very next rally and close out the set 15-11 and emerge victorious 3-2 match result serving the Lancers with a devastating season-ending loss on the road following last season’s best campaign to date.
 
UP NEXT
With the heartbreaking defeat this officially brings the Windsor Lancer men’s volleyball team’s season to an end. 
 
The blue and gold would like to sincerely thank all of their fans for their continued support of the men’s volleyball program and look forward to updating everyone soon with more information regarding the upcoming 2024-25 season slated to begin this fall.