Box Score The Warriors have been coming out on the wrong end of tight games for much of the season, but tonight that was not the case. In a game which was smothered in momentum swings, Waterloo defeated the #1 OUA West Gryphons in a 5-set thriller (26-24, 19-25, 16-25, 25-23, 16-14). Waterloo moves to 2-8 on the season and hand Guelph just their second loss (6-3).
Waterloo established a 6-2 lead early in the first set and forced Guelph to take an early timeout. The black and gold were passing the ball well which allowed
Emily Needles (Thorndale) to run her offence and set the Warriors up for some solid offensive play. Guelph would ride the first momentum swing of the game and jump to a 16-13 lead at the technical timeout. Waterloo stormed back to close the gap to 22-21 in favour of the Gryphons and again 24-23. Waterloo answered with 3 straight points to end the set with a 26-24 victory and take an early 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second stanza, Waterloo struggled early and posted a large number of attacking and passing errors which put them down 7-3 early. Guelph led 16-12 at the technical timeout before winning the next to points to extend the lead to 18-12 and force the Warriors into a timeout. Back and forth action allowed the Warriors to claw back into the game but down 20-19, Waterloo lost the next 5 points to lose 25-19 and knot the match at 1 set a piece.
Waterloo seemed determined to turn the tables and lead 7-6 but Guelph won the next 4 rallies and lead 10-7. Waterloo continued to struggle on the offensive side of the ball and committed numerous attacking errors; something the Warriors nearly double Guelph on during the match. The Gryphons led 18-11 and would eventually go on to take the set 25-16 and take a 2-1 lead.
The black and gold were not going to finish the pre-holiday season on a losing note and rallied in the fourth set to gain a 7-5 lead early. Waterloo looked much calmer and were making smarter decisions with the ball before gaining a 13-11 lead on the back of captain
Natasha Spaling (Drayton). Waterloo led 22-18 but forfeited two straight points when Waterloo's
Richard Eddy called a timeout to weather the storm.
Claire Mackenzie (Vancouver) would lay the hammer down a few points later to give the Warriors a 25-23 win and force a fifth and deciding set.
In the final stanza, momentum swings could not have been more prominent as Waterloo led 7-2 before the teams switched sides but would forfeit 5 straight points later in the set to go down 11-10 to Guelph. Waterloo would concede 3 of the next 4 points and go down 14-11, but would make an impressive run and win the fifth set 16-14 in an absolutely wild contest.
Waterloo's Spaling had 17 kills (.250) and 6 blocks while
Shannon Lodoen (Waterloo) chipped in with 14 kills, 4 blocks and 8 digs.
Emily Needles (Thorndale) had a great night with 44 assists and 14 digs while
Kristen Bartmann (Uxbridge) had 41 digs which sits here at 4
th in the OUA with 151.
Guelph's Madison Dedecker had a solid evening with 12 kills, 12 digs and 5 blocks while Shannon Morelli had 8 kills, 29 digs and 4 service aces. Kristen Almhjell had 30 digs which sits her 5
th in the OUA behind Bartmann.
Waterloo will now break for the holidays and return to action on the road Friday, January 9 to take on the Toronto Varsity Blues at 8pm.
