Badgers put up valiant effort in OUA bronze medal contest against Gryphons

A sold-out Bob Davis Gymnasium crowd witnessed a absolutely thrilling five-set bronze medal contest between the Brock Badgers men’s volleyball team and the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday, March 9.  

The Badgers fought till the end, but the visiting Guelph Gryphons took the win 3-2 (15-25, 33-35, 25-14, 25-18, 11-15).

Sophomore outside hitter and OUA second team all-star Devin Cooney led the way with 19 points off 17 kills, one ace and one block. Kylar Code and Sauli Lianga both finished in the double digits in kills, notching 13 and 11, respectively. The defence was led by libero Adrian Gaspar with nine digs, and Grant Reddon distributed 48 assists.  

Both teams came out with physical play at the net to start the contest. A Brock error gave Guelph a 13-10 lead, leading to a timeout from the home side. The Gryphons’ lead started to balloon, courtesy of three blocks from Alexander Odle, leading to an eventual 25-15 first set win. 

The Badgers took advantage of three consecutive Guelph hitting errors to take a 9-5 lead, forcing Guelph’s first timeout of the match. The Gryphons fought back, forcing the Badgers to call their second timeout as they took a 20-19 lead. From there, the teams traded points until an attack error from Brock gave Guelph a 24-22 lead. Kills from Code and substitute outside hitter Eric Scott brought the game tied at 24-24. In the marathon set, the two teams went back and forth deep into extra points with the Gryphons scoring kills from Odle and Jonathan Pickett to take it 35-33.  

In the third set, the high energy from both teams continued leading to even play. Guelph took the first three-point lead of the set at 12-9, forcing a timeout from head coach Ian Eibbitt and the Badgers. Lianga’s tip evaded the Guelph defence, leading to Brock’s first lead of the set at 14-13 and an immediate timeout from the visitors. Code’s service ace brought the crowd to their feet as the Badgers established a 20-13 advantage. A Ferland and Scott block sealed the 25-14 victory in the third set, giving life to the team and the fans.  

Guelph got out to an early lead in the fourth, but Code and Cooney would not let the Badgers go away. Code notched back-to-back kills to extend Brock’s lead to 13-9, bringing Guelph to the bench for a timeout. Cooney ripped an ace cross court to bring the advantage to six at 16-10, and the rest of the set was highlighted by an overpass kill from Reddon as the Badgers cruised to a 25-18 win in the fourth.  

In the fifth and deciding set, the Gryphons used a Badgers’ attack error to go up 6-2, leading to a quick timeout. At the court switch, the visitors held an 8-4 advantage. The Badgers did not go away, making it close multiple times in the fifth and bringing the lead down to two at 13-11. The Gryphons fought back using kills from Cameron Chadwick and Joshua Glasbergen to seal the 15-11 win. 

This marks the end of a great postseason run for the Brock Badgers who finished one game away from a spot at nationals.