GUELPH, Ont. – For the first time since the 2019-20 season the Guelph Gryphons men’s volleyball team is headed to the semifinal round of the OUA playoffs. The Gryphons advance following a five-set thriller that saw the U SPORTS No. 10-ranked team take down the Windsor Lancers in a clash between the OUA’s 4th and 5th-seeded teams. Set scores in the U of G quarterfinal win were 18-25, 28-26, 18-25, 25-22, and 15-11.
The opening set of Friday night’s playoff game at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre saw the visiting Lancers come out firing on all cylinders looking to pull off the upset as the No. 5-seed. Windsor built a 17-6 advantage and limited the No. 4-seeded Gryphons to a -.026 hitting percentage while forcing 11 errors en route to a convincing 25-18 first set victory. Despite dropping the opening frame the Gryphons bounced back with a strong second set, matching the Lancers in kills (14) and taking the advantage in hitting percentage. 25 points was not enough to even things up however, as the Lancers would take the Gryphons to a tie a 26 points before a Cameron Chadwick kill and Lancer error sent the match to a 1-1 stalemate. Chadwick would finish the game with 7.5 points 6 kills after replacing an injured Alexander Odle early in the match.
The third set saw another back-and-forth beginning before the Lancers took command of the frame with scoring runs of 6-1 and 7-3 which would lead them to another 25-18 set victory. Looking to keep their season alive and force a fifth set, the Gryphons would come out strong in the fourth and take an early 5-1 lead. Despite the Lancers matching the Gryphons point-for-point their early advantage proved to be just enough as they would eventually edge-out the visiting team 25-22 to force a win-or-go home fifth frame.
The fifth set saw the Gryphon captain and all-Canadian talent Jonathan Pickett take over, opening the frame with three straight kills before picking up two more for the Gryphons 12th and 13th points. By the end of the match the outside hitter from Wiarton would total 21.5 points thanks to a game-high 20 kills and 1.5 total blocks. The fifth set also saw crucial points recorded by Chadwick, Nathan Peters, and a trio from third-year student-athlete Blake Brand which, in addition to three errors committed by the Lancers, would provide the Gryphons with the win and a semifinal berth.
Brand, who made his first career playoff start Friday night, recorded the second-most points on the U of G team after totaling 13 kills and an assisted block. Environmental science major Joshua Glasbergen also impressed in crunch time, producing 9 kills, 2 total blocks, and a service ace to go along with a staggering .444 hitting percentage. Another Gryphon to impress from the attack line was middle blocker Nathan Peters who recorded a perfect hitting percentage, going 4-for-4 while adding an assisted block. Finally, veteran setter Thomas Pugsley found teammates for kills on 38 occasions, a game-high, while picking up a pair of kills and 3 total blocks of his own.
The Gryphons will now shift their attention to the No. 1-seed in the OUA, the McMaster Marauders, ahead of their semifinal match with the U SPORTS No. 4-ranked team at Burridge Gymnasium in Hamilton. A win would mark the first Forsyth Cup championship appearance for the Gryphons since 2009-10 when the team captured OUA silver after falling to the Queen’s Gaels. The Gryphons and Marauders will meet at 7pm on Friday, March 1 in Hamilton, with the game streamed live online at oua.tv. The Brock Badgers and Queen’s Gaels will meet in the other OUA men’s volleyball semifinal, with that match set for 8pm on Friday, March 1 in Kingston.
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