Windsor splits weekend with Gryphons

The Lancer men’s volleyball team split their weekend road trip with the Guelph Gryphons. The blue and gold won a five-set marathon on Friday night 3-2 (22-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-11), before dropping a four-set loss on Saturday, 3-1 (24-26, 21-25, 25-15, 20-25).
 
FRIDAY STATS
Gustavo Siqueira led both teams with 22.5 points, that included 19 kills, 2 service aces and six digs. Anthony Ivanovski also hit double digits with 11 points and 7 kills.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED FRIDAY
The Lancers and Gryphons opened up Friday’s match with a tightly-contested first set which saw neither team able to score more than two points in a row. Despite the back-and-forth, the Gryphons took an early lead and close out the first frame 25-22. The Lancers got off to a hot start in the second, opening with a 5-2 run. The Gryphons would respond with a scoring run of their own however and take a 9-6 lead before the two teams settled into the set. The Gryphons were ultimately able to edge out the blue and gold and take a 2-0 lead with a 25-23 set win.
 
In the third, the Lancers were finally able to break through and went on a 5-2 run to take the third set and start the comeback. The Lancer offence took over midway through the set, as Windsor won the set 25-18 to force a winner-take-all fifth set. 

The fifth set saw another back-and-forth set with each team trading blows until the Lancers took an 11-8 lead late in the set. Following a Gryphon timeout, the Lancers would close out the game with a 4-3 run.
 
SATURDAY STATS
Siqueira once again led the Lancers with 15 points, followed by Kaden Reid with 14 points. Luca Nastase (11.5points) and Darian Koskie (10 points) also hit double digits for the blue and gold. Markus Law-Heese led the team defensively with 16 digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED SATURDAY
The game opened with both teams trading blows in the form of scoring runs before a 7-1 Gryphon run gave the home team an early lead. The Lancers would respond in the second, quickly building a 17-9 advantage. The Gryphons went on a run to tie the game at 20-20 before holding the visiting team to a single point and taking the second set. Despite momentum trending in the Gryphons favour, the Lancers would avoid the straight-sets loss with a convincing 25-15 third set win. In the fourth, the Gryphons were able to capture the win thanks to a 5-0 run midway through the frame followed by 9-4 run to take the 25-20 victory. 
 
UP NEXT
Windsor will return home next weekend for a doubleheader against the Western Mustangs on Friday and Saturday night. First serve on game one is set for 8:00pm at the Toldo Lancer Centre. Tickets can be purchased in advance at goLancers.ca/tickets.