Gryphons advance to the Final Four by defeating the Lancers
In their last match, the Guelph Gryphons were about to challenge the concept of the host team having the advantage of playing in their home ground but fortunately for them and their hundreds of fans presents at the Mitchell Athletics Centre, the Gryphons just fell short of doing so. In a match that could have been easily won by a sweep, the Gryphons defeated the visiting Windsor Lancers by 3-2. The tale is told in the set scores that the score board displayed when the match finished at 25-21, 20-25, 20-25, 25-23, 15-7. The victory achieved recently by the Gryphons translates into winning their OUA men’s volleyball opener match.
The first set of the match was closely contested by both the teams. The Lancers were neck to neck with the Gryphons and the crowd saw some competitive volleyball displayed by both the teams. However, the Gryphons began to gain dominance on the court which eventually led them to win the first set at 25-21.
In the second set of the match, the Gryphons seemed to slack and it showed in their performance. They let the Lancers take charge. Taking advantage of the laid back attitude of the host team, the Lancers were able to secure wins in the second and third set of the match by 25-20 each. At an interestingly twist of the match, the Gryphons found themselves down by one in their home ground.
The 1-2 deficit sent a much needed wake up call to the Gryphs , but it came later in the fourth set. The Lancers were able to take an early lead, building on the momentum generated by the last two wins. However, the Gryphons rallied themselves together in time and gave themselves an opportunity of winning the match by scrapping a fourth set win at 25-23.
Once they got rolling, the Gryphs were able to keep the charge for themselves in the fifth game as well. The Lancers did put in a commendable effort to turn the tables in their favour, but it wasn’t enough to scrap a win. Therefore, the final set of the match ended with the Gryphons winning by 15-7. The last point was taken by Andrew Revie of the Gryphons, as he hammered down a speeding kill on the Lancers.
“It was in the moment,” Revie said. “You’ve got to focus on every single point. Every single point is the same so you’ve just got to focus on what you learned in practice and hopefully it turns out that you get it done.”
The win over the Lancers have made the Gryphons carry on to the Final Four round. Their next match will be played at Western and will take place next weekend.
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