The Waterloo men's volleyball team closed out the 2011 calendar year with a 3-2 upset victory over the Guelph Gryphons on Friday night. The Warriors dropped the first two sets before coming back to capture the final three sets to come out on top in the see-saw affair.
With the win the Warriors improved to 4-5 on the season while the No. 10 ranked Gryphons fell to 6-2.
The Gryphons dominated the first set and looked comfortable on the court. Winston Rosser (Whitby, ON), Marc Wilson (Stratford, ON) and Drew Whitaker (Sharon, ON) all contributed unstoppable kills against the Warriors. The Gryphons quickly built a significant lead over Waterloo and carried out an easy win, finishing 25-13.
The Gryphons entered the second set confident with the early success, but soon began struggling to keep the Warriors at bay. The score went up point by point mid-way through the set, but the Gryphons eventually took off and built another lead over Waterloo. At one point in the set, the Gryphons were ahead 21-16, but the Warriors managed to catch up at the crucial point in the match. Wilson took the second with a block, finishing off a close set.
A shift in control and power on the court occurred in set three. Waterloo came in strong and determined, and led in points through most of the match. Warrior outside hitters
James Evans (Rockwood/Warriors) (Rockwood, ON) and
Fiodar Kazhamiaka (Waterloo/) (Waterloo, ON) wreaked havoc on Gryphon defence. Guelph had difficulty responding to the attacks and the set ended 21-25 in the Warriors' favour.
A defensive break down plagued the Gryphons in the fourth. Many of Waterloo attacks hit the floor with no response from defence and rebounds were left untouched. The Warriors began building a significant lead and despite a number of kills from Wilson and Whitaker, Waterloo continued to dominate. Once the Warriors were over 10 points ahead of the Gryphons, three Guelph rookies were subbed onto the court to play out to the end, which finished a discouraging 10-25.
The fifth set was an intense match between the two teams. The Gryphons came in with more confidence and they won a crucial rally between the two teams after Whitaker shut it down. The Warriors led for the beginning of the set but the Gryphons were soon trailing by only one or two points. It looked like Guelph was going to over-take Waterloo near the end, but the Warriors pushed hard and took it for a close 13-15 finish. The game finished a disappointing 2-3 - the first loss for the Gryphons after a five game winning streak.
The Gryphons were led by Rosser with 12 kills, 1 ace and 3 digs, along with Wilson who contributed 12 kills and 2 digs. The Warriors were led by Kazhamiaka with an impressive 21 kill record, as well as Evans who contributed 16 kills, and 11 digs.
The Warriors enjoy a month break for the holidays before returning to action in the new year with a pair of road games against RMC and Queen's on January 7 and 8.
