GUELPH, Ont. – The U SPORTS No. 9-ranked Guelph Gryphons men’s volleyball team played to a 3-1 win against the U of T Varsity Blues Friday night (Jan. 19) at the Guelph Gryphons Athletic Centre, extedning their unbeaten streak to nine games, with their last loss coming just prior to the winter break. With the win the Gryphons improve to 12-2 on the season and tighten their grip on the top spot in the OUA West divison, while the Varsity Blues fall to 6-5 and hold onto 8th-place in the confernce standings.
All-Canadian talent Jonathan Pickett put on another fantastic performance for the Gryphons, recording a team-high 19.5 kills with a .444 hitting percentage. It marked the 9th time this season that the Wiarton native has surpassed 15 points in a match and 12th in which he has reached double-digit points, having failed to do so just twice this season. Just behind Pickett was fourth-year economics major Alexander Odle who set a new season-high with 17 points (15 kills, 2 solo blocks) in the win. Third-year middle blocker Jacob Bailey also reached the 10 point mark with 9 kills and a pair of assisted blocks while veteran setter Thomas Pugsley led the game with 51 kill assists.
It was another strong performance for the Gryphons, who took the opening set 25-19 after a 6-2 scoring run to open the match. AFter dropping the second set 25-20 to the visiting team, the U of G squad well, going point-for-point with the Varsity Blues to open the third. Eventually, the Gryphon pressure would result in a 10-5 points run to close out the set 25-20, taking the all important set lead heading into the fourth. The fourth set saw a convincing victory for the Gryphons who took a commanding lead midway through the frame to lead them to their fifth consecutive win.
The Gryphons (12-2) will take the rest of the weekend off before welcoming the Windsor Lancers to the GGAC next weekend for back-to-back matches on Friday (Jan. 26) and Saturday (Jan. 27). Match times are set for 8pm and 6pm, with Saturday’s game also serving as the Gryphons annual ‘Alumni Day’ celebration. Tickets for both matches can be purchased at gryphons.ca/tickets.
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