GUELPH, Ont. – The TMU Bold men’s volleyball team was unable to overcome a strong Guelph Gryphons side on Friday night, dropping them to 8-15 on the season. The straight sets loss represents the Bold’s fifth straight loss, a losing streak which dates back to the start of February. The Bold now sit 11th in the OUA, wrapping up their season tomorrow.
Through the early parts of the first set, the score was close with Guelph establishing a narrow 7-5 lead through the first dozen points. Despite some early miscues on services by the Bold, they continued to keep things close in the first set. Kai Higuchi played a big role in keeping things close, recording eight kills in the opening frame. The Gryphons, despite the Bold pressure, would put the set away behind strong attacking play. They recorded an impressive .680 hitting percentage in the first set, helping them secure a 25-22 set victory.
The second set maintained a similar back and forth fashion as the first. Guelph would establish a slight 9-6 lead, continuing to hit at an effective rate. Despite hitting and serving well throughout, the Gryphons were unable to pull away from the Bold who defended well, particularly at the net. Alex King recorded several key blocks in the second set to keep the score tight. Guelph would pull away as a result of several service errors, preventing long runs of points for the Bold.
TMU, needing a win in the third set, would again find themselves facing a small deficit through the first few points of the set. The Bold were resilient on each point, digging the ball well and extending rallies to squeeze out whatever points they could. Guelph would break through, however, with a 5-1 run to build an 11-6 lead in the set before a TMU timeout. Coming out of the break the Bold were simply unable to defend the Guelph attack, as the Gryphons racked up kills in the third. The lead would grow to 15-6, before a King kill ended the Guelph point streak at nine. Despite the Bold’s best efforts the Gryphons would run away with the contest from there, securing a straight sets victory with a 25-19 third set win.
The Bold finish their season tomorrow night, in a rematch against the Gryphons as they look to end the year on a high note and build momentum towards next season.