With the season coming to a close, improved teams look to lock up playoff positions

Written by Dan Howse

Screaming fans, highlight reel plays and flustered opposing coaches calling timeouts.
If this isn’t the image varsity volleyball conjures up, you probably haven’t been to any games at the W.F. Mitchell Centre this year.

“The place is rocking,” said Gryphon women’s coach Paul Funk. “Not too many teams like coming into our gym.”
Last Friday, both the men’s and the women’s teams took on tough, division-leading McMaster Marauders teams.
Although the 11-6 women lost three sets to none, the 10-7 men’s team made up for it, crushing the 14-3 Marauders in a three-set shutout themselves.

This wasn’t the first victory the men’s team has had over McMaster this year.

“Right now I think we’re in their heads a bit,” said men’s coach Cal Wigston.

With two of Mac’s three losses coming against Guelph, it seems that the Gryphon men’s team has their number. That’s no surprise for Wigston.

“We’ve spent a lot of time preparing for Mac, watching a lot of tape and talking through what they do,” he said.
With a bevy of frontline players six-foot-four or taller, Guelph has the size to deal with McMaster’s intimidating frontcourt. More importantly, they prepare for that frontcourt and have the skills to disrupt its attack.

“They’ve got two very good middle hitters,” Wigston explained. “So we try to serve as aggressively as we can, which makes it difficult for them to try and set those middle hitters.”

Without giving away too many of Wigston’s strategic secrets, it’s suffice to say that this Gryphon team’s level of preparation for McMaster is the rule, not the exception to it. When Wigston took control of the program, he envisioned a patient ascendance to the OUA throne with a four-year plan. Not surprisingly, he’s in year four currently.

“[It’s the] fourth year – let’s see what we can do with this team,” said Wigston, recalling the initial meetings he had with the assistant coaching staff, “as far as gunning for a championship.”

While varsity teams are an ever-changing mix of veteran players moving on and new players developing, it would be hard to deny that this team is currently peaking.

The team’s do-everything captain on the left side, Albertan import Jonathan Whitton, is in his fifth and final year of eligibility as is last year’s OUA Libero of the year, Gabriel DeGroot. Big middle hitters Andrew Revie and Kevin Stewart are both in their fourth years. And with all due respect to Winston Rosser, the right side, second-year player with the wicked spike, most of the team’s core has spent three to five years developing.

This is a team that is eying a championship now. So why the seven losses? Both Wigston and Revie chalk it up to a lack of focus.

“The issue we always have is never being strong enough or physical enough,” Revie explained, “[Our problem is] the little mental hiccups we go through.”

Although the playoffs don’t begin until after reading week, this men’s team has already began preparing like every set could be their last.

“You can’t just expect to turn on the mindset and turn on focus once the game starts,” Revie said. “You have to be building up to that focus and that mindset constantly.”

The Gryphon women’s volleyball team finished last season with a record of 8-11, missing the playoffs. With many of those losses coming down the final stretch, head coach Paul Funk decided to shuffle the deck this year.

The result has been a dynamic squad that is fun to watch.

More importantly, they’ve posted the first winning record since 2003-04.

“We’ve added some very good first-year players,” Funk said. “And we’ve had some other people who have played different positions last year who have adjusted to new positions and done very well,” he added.

Although last year’s team started strong, the opposition eventually realized that the women’s team had trouble picking up kills.

“We didn’t have enough offensive firepower” Funk said.

This season, that’s changed.

“I have lots of options on the court now,” said third-year starting setter Melissa McGinn.

With the addition of six-foot-three rookie Erinn Bickle to an already potent six-foot frontline that includes fourth-year Kylen Van Osch, third-year Claire Sandor and second-year Brooke Lloyd, McGinn has what she called “a ton of go-to players” at her disposal.

Although the women’s team actually has the better record than their male counterparts at 11-6, the ultra-competitive OUA West division has the Gryphons currently on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. However, with two more road games to go, the team’s playoff hopes are still very alive.

“Every game is a big game,” McGinn said. “We’re all pretty pumped.”

The men’s team has two more road games as well before one big final home game of the year on Feb. 19 to close out the regular season. Although Coach Wigston knows this game is during reading week, he encourages anyone who can make it to come check out what is sure to be a raucous affair.

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