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18
Gryphons bounce back with a win against RMC
Men’s volleyball gets
a confidence boost
after a resounding 3-0
victory
Michael Long
After a tough start to the season, and
a difficult loss to the Queen’s Gaels
on Nov. 9, the men’s volleyball team
was vindicated the very next night
with a resounding win over the RMC
Paladins.
Despite having defeated Queen’s
in the preseason match, on Nov. 10
the Gryphons were outmatched by
the Gaels, losing three straight sets.
Set scores were 25-16, 25-19, 25-15.
As is often the case, errors made
all the difference during this match;
the Gryphons had nearly twice the
errors of the Gaels.
The loss against Queen’s left the
Gryphons with a 0-4 record for the
season.
Coming into the match against
the RMC the following night, the
Gryphon’s head coach, Cal Wigston,
evidently felt the burden of
this record.
“The pressure was on to get a win;
we needed to get a win,” Wigston
recalled after the game.
And while the RMC Paladins may
not be the most formidable opponents
– the team has, in fact, not won
a single game in six seasons – the
first set began with every indication
that this could be a close game. At
one point the score was tied at 7-7.
But that all changed as the Gryphons
then scored seven consecutive
points while the Paladins continued
to have trouble running into
the net. Once again, errors would
prove critical in deciding a game –
though this time Guelph would get
the better end of the deal. The first
set ended 25-18 for the Gryphons.
But the Gryphons got off to a
rocky, seemingly overenthusiastic
start in the second set. As the score
began to tip heavily in favour of the
Paladins, 6-1 at its most extreme,
coach Wigston called his first timeout
of the game. During the timeout
he reminded his team to stay relaxed
and focused.
“We’ve been really working hard
with our mental trainer on relaxing,
making sure that we get ourselves
into position properly,” said Wigston,
when asked what he told his
team during that timeout.
And that advice may well have
paid off. As Guelph’s Winston Rosser
was on the serve, the Gryphons
quickly restored the balance to
7-9. The strong serving of Timothy
Warnholtz then tied things up at
11-11. From there, the Gryphons
continued to keep the pressure on,
forcing several hasty RMC timeouts.
Those killer serves were instrumental
in securing the win in the
Ryerson downs Guelph
Men’s basketball on
the losing side at the
former Maple Leaf
Gardens
take full advantage of. After the
first quarter of play the Rams had
run up a 10-point lead on the
Gryphons.
second set and, as would become
clear, the win overall.
“Our serving was really good. We
put a lot of pressure on them with
our serving and if we can continue
to serve like that we’ll continue to
get wins,” said Wigston.
Winning the third and final set
was a mere formality at this point.
Gryphon serves and spikes were
consistently more than a match for
the Paladin defence.
The final scores were 25-18, 25-
17, 25-14.
This first win of the season, even
if it was against a lesser team, was
undeniably a confidence booster for
the team. But all were quick to acknowledge
that there is still work
to be done.
“It was a good enough performance
to win but I still think we have a
long way to go. This team is very talented
and we’ve got a lot of guys on
the floor that can play volleyball, so
it’s just a matter of getting it together,”
said Drew Whitaker, left-side
hitter for the Gryphons. “It’s been
a bit of a battle for the first couple
of games, but it’s coming together
now and hopefully we can bring it
uphill for the rest of the year.”
With any luck, this flighty boost
of confidence will last until Nov. 16
when the Gryphons line up against
the top-ranked, currently undefeated
McMaster Marauders at 8 p.m. in
Hamilton.
sports & Health
tasha falconer
Timothy Warnholtz (7) of the Gryphons gets elevated during the
weekend’s action.
Tristan Davies
On Nov. 10 in men’s basketball action,
the Ryerson University Rams
played host to the visiting Guelph
Gryphons at the Mattamy Athletics
Centre – formerly the historic
Maple Leaf Gardens. Coming off a
loss to the University of Toronto
Varsity Blues, the Gryphons looked
to get that all-important first win
of the season. However, the Gryphons
could not stand up to the
Rams on their home court and lost
the game 91-43.
The Gryphons started the game
promisingly, opening up the
scoring with guard Charles Amponsah’s
three pointer. Guelph
jumped out quickly to a five to
four lead, however this would be
short lived as the Rams began to
establish their control over the
scoreboard.
The Ryerson forwards quickly
imposed their will on the Guelph
defenders to take control of the
paint. This would open up the perimeter
shots that the Rams would
“If the
Gryphons hope
to be a force
in the OUA this
season they will
need to tighten
up on the
defensive end
by getting more
rebounds.”
In the second quarter, the Gryphons
would be plagued by a
sluggish defense that would see
the Rams further extend their lead
to 43-26 by halftime.
Guelph couldn’t stop the Rams
in the third quarter, allowing the
Daniel Thompson (22) of the men’s basketball team drives to the net against Toronto on Nov. 9.
Rams to showcase their bench players
who looked equally sharp as the
starters. The Rams would simply
coast to the final buzzer, racking
up another 48 points in the process.
Ryerson’s bench performance
helped them take this game, outscoring
their Gryphon counterparts
31-15. If the Gryphons hope to be a
force in the OUA this season they
will need to tighten up on the
defensive end by getting more rebounds.
The Rams controlled the
boards pulling down 42 rebounds
to Guelph’s mere 20.
The top performer for the Rams
was shooting guard Jordan Gauthier
who put up 19 points and 13
gryphon athletics
rebounds for a double-double.
The Gryphons offense was lead
by Rookie Charles Amponsah with
11 points going just 7-15 from the
floor.
The Gryphons will continue their
search for a win when they host
the Queen’s Gaels at W. F. Mitchell
Athletic Centre on Nov. 17.