Gryphon men edged by Trinity Western in consolation semifinal
KINGSTON – The Guelph Gryphons were ousted from the U Sports national university men’s volleyball championship tournament Saturday when they were edged 3-2 by the defending champion Trinity Western Spartans in consolation semifinal play at the Queen’s Athletic Recreation Complex gymnasium.
The Gryphs were seeded eighth in the eight-team tournament while Trinity Western was seeded fourth. Guelph dropped its tournament opener 3-0 to the top-seed Sherbrooke Vert et Or Thursday while Trinity Western was handed a setback by the fifth-seed tournament host Queen’s Gaels.
Saturday, Trinity Western needed victories in the fourth and fifth sets to get by the Gryphons. Guelph took the first set 26-24, Trinity Western won the second 25-23 and the Gryphs claimed the third set 25-15. The Spartans came back with a 25-21 win in the fourth set and a 15-9 triumph in the fifth set.
Jonathan Pickett had 18 kills, an ace, two blocks and 10 digs for the Gryphs while Cameron Chadwick had 12 kills, an ace, four blocks, five digs and three assists and Alexander Odle had seven kills, a block and eight digs. Jacob Bailey had seven kills, three blocks and three digs while Joshua Glasbergen had five kills, two aces, six blocks, two digs and an assist, Thomas Pugsley had an ace, a block, six digs and 39 assists, Jack Richards had an ace and three assists, Daniel Pickett had nine digs and an assist and Nathan Peters had a kill.
Category leaders for Trinity Western were Kaden Schmidt with 22 kills, Piers De Greeff with three aces and five blocks, Henry Rempel with eight digs and Anselm Rein with 46 assists.
The Gryphs had 50 kills, six aces, 11 blocks, 47 assists, 43 digs and a .230 kill percentage while Trinity Western had 56 kills, seven aces, 13 blocks, 55 assists, 29 digs and a .233 kill percentage.
The Guelph squad was in the tournament for the first time since 1988 when they were tournament hosts.
The Gryphs finish their season with an overall 24-14 record that included 10-4 records in both home and away matches and a 4-6 record in neutral site matches. They were 15-5 in OUA league play.
Guelph’s roster of 19 included one fifth-year player (Pugsley) and three fourth-year players (Odle, Jonathan Pickett, Noah Romero Marshall). Five of their players were either in their first or second year of eligibility.
- Guelph Sports Journal