Gryphon women fade as Nipissing surges to victory
NORTH BAY – The Guelph Gryphons dropped three consecutive sets as they were edged 3-2 by the Nipissing Lakers in OUA women’s volleyball play Saturday at Nipissing’s Robert J. Surtees Athletics Centre.
The Gryphs were on the verge of a sweep when they took the first two sets of the match, but the host Lakers rallied for the victory. Guelph won those opening two sets 29-27 and 25-14 before Nipissing took the match with 25-22, 25-18 and 15-10 set wins.
Briar Crerar had 16 kills, 15 digs and 4 assists for the Gryphs while Hailey Holland had 9 kills, 4 blocks and 10 digs, Mia Miskovic had 7 kills and 4 aces, Maia Dan had 7 kills, 4 aces and 10 digs, Nikina Bear-Lowen had 5 kills and 5 blocks, Alexa Shields had 14 digs and 44 assists and Payton King had 10 digs.
Owen Paige had 24 kills, 2 aces and 16 digs for Nipissing while Logan Garvey had 2 aces and 42 assists and Jaden Germann had 4 blocks.
The Gryphs had 53 kills, 10 aces, 13 blocks, 52 assists, 77 digs and a .150 kill percentage while Nipissing had 61 kills, 6 aces, 11 blocks, 57 assists, 82 digs and a .188 kill percentage.
The result leaves the Gryphs at 12-4 and Nipissing at 7-9.
Second-ranked Brock Badgers lead the league at 16-2 while the fifth-ranked Queen’s Gaels are second at 14-2, eighth-ranked McMaster Marauders third at 14-4 and the Gryphs are fourth. Nipissing is ninth.
The Gryphs have four matches left on their regular-season schedule. They’re to play Queen’s at Kingston Friday and Saturday with both matches slated to start at 6 p.m. They’re to complete their regular season with a pair of home matches against the sixth-place Toronto Metropolitan Bold (10-5) at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre. They’re to play Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. and Feb. 17 at 6 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal