Box Score The Waterloo Warriors (1-2) hosted the Guelph Gryphons (2-2) on Saturday night and showed great resiliency after coming off a tough 3-0 defeat the night prior to the #10 CIS ranked McMaster Marauders. Waterloo edged the Gryphons in five sets (25-22, 25-23, 16-25, 21-25, 15-12) and move to .500 (2-2) as Guelph drops to 2-3 on the young season.
At the outset of the match, the offense for both squads was very efficient with limited sustained rallies. Tied 7-7 early with neither side seemingly able to shift the momentum in their favour, the black and gold would establish the first substantial lead with some clutch blocks before seeing a 16-12 lead into the technical time-out. The Warriors would continue to swing well out of the time-out and steal the next two points to force Gryphons coach Paul Funk into a time-out trailing 18-12. The time-out seemed to spark Guelph as they won 10 of the next 14 points to knot the game at 22-22 before Warriors coach Richard Eddy was forced into a time-out. Unfortunately for the red and white, it was too-little, too-late as the Warriors emerged victorious in the first set 25-22.
The two tightly contested opponents continued the see-saw battle in the second set but the Gryphons started to establish control and jumped out to a 10-6 lead before Eddy was forced into his first time-out. Waterloo shortened the gap to one (13-14) after a combination of unforced hitting errors by the Gryphons allowed Waterloo to claw back into the set before heading to the technical time-out down 14-16. After shortening the lead to one (19-20), captain Natasha Spaling (Drayton) came off the bench and registered her first kill of the night to force a stalemate at 20-20 before Funk called his second time-out for the Gryphons. Claire Mackenzie (North Vancouver) went on a tear from the service line serving 4 straight (with 2 service aces) before Waterloo narrowly edged the Gryphons 25-23 to take the second set and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The red and white seemed determined to extend this match as they came out firing on all cylinders in the third set and captured the first four points before Waterloo was forced into an early time-out. Waterloo made a comeback to close the gap to 8-7 in favour of Guelph off a solid team effort but the Gryphons continued to be persistent as they forced the Warriors into some difficult passing situations and regained a 14-7 lead off 7-straight points to force a time-out from the home side. Guelph would double-up on Waterloo at the technical time-out leading 16-8 and wouldn't look back as they took control the remainder of the set and forced a 4th with a 25-16 victory.
The home side didn't let the lopsided third set deter them as Waterloo drained the momentum that Guelph had gathered and forced Guelph into their first time-out trailing 6-3. Both sides would exchange points all the way through to the technical time out which saw Waterloo holding a two point lead at 16-14. Given the importance of this set, Paul Funk didn't want to take any chances and called a time out after teams exchange points with Waterloo leading 18-16. Guelph rallied and took 5 of the next 7 points and took their first lead of the set at 21-20 before Eddy tried to slow the game and used his first time-out. Guelph continued to roll and tied the match a two sets a piece after a 25-21 victory to force a 5th and deciding set.
Neither team seemed flustered out of the gates in the deciding set as both sides exchanged attacks and remained tied at 7-7 before Waterloo took an 8-7 lead as both teams switched courts before Kristen Bartmann (Uxbridge) made a massive 'pancake' dig to keep the rally alive followed by a huge block by Spaling and Emily Ibbotsen to take a 9-7 lead and force Guelph to a time-out. Waterloo wouldn't look back at they cruised past a seemingly unsettled Guelph side and take the 5th set 15-12 and win the match 3-2.
Claire Mackenzie (North Vancouver) got the start for the Warriors and played very well, tallying a team-high 13 kills along with 13 digs while the rookie sensation Alyson Colpitts (Fredericton) led the way with a team-high 14 kills, 9 digs and 3 service aces. Emily Needles (Thorndale) collected 48 assists in the effort and Bartmann chipped in with 20 digs and 3 assists.
On the opposition side, Guelph's Becky Breau and Maddie Dedecker each had 13 kills while Nicole Collard had 7 kills and 8 blocks. Cayte Wilson had 33 assists in the losing effort and Kristen Almhjell had 31 digs and 5 assists.
Waterloo returns home to the Physical Activities Complex next weekend as they host the Lakehead Thunderwolves in back-to-back contests Friday/Saturday night. Both matches are slated for a 7pm start which can be seen on OUA.TV.
