This weekend the Gryphon women’s volleyball team faced the McMaster Marauders and the Ryerson Rams, however all was not golden on the volleyball court. The women’s team dropped their first match against the Marauders losing in three straight sets. Set scores were 25-17, 25-22 and 26-24. This was a tough loss for the Gryphons and the team’s confidence was already said to be quite low, as they also dropped two games last weekend to Ottawa and Western. The following day the girls also fell to the Ryerson Rams, losing three sets to one. Set scores were 27-25, 22-25, 20-25, 21-25.

“The main cause for our losses is that as a group, we are not playing well at crucial times,” explained head coach Paul Funk.

“It’s not one thing or one player. Everyone is taking a turn making errors late in games.”  On a brighter note Funk also made note of the weekend’s silver lining.

“We didn’t give up at any point and played hard to the end.”

To brighten the weekend losses, left side hitter and captain, Brooke Lloyd returned to the court, as she faced a week-long sit out with an ankle-sprain. Lloyd came back in full force as she lead the team with 15 points in the Ryerson game, closely followed by teammate and middle blocker, Erinn Bickle with 14 points.

“We began each set strongly up until the 16th point in which we failed to execute the skills needed to win the set,” said Lloyd.

However, the team has faced several challenges this season. Last year the Gryphons finished in first place in the league and ended their season placing second in the OUA. Coming off that high the team lost three key players, including setter Melissa McGinn, middle player Kylen Van Osch, and right side Claire Sandor. With the graduation of experienced players comes fresh faces, in which a new starting line up must learn to play together and support each other.

Alongside these losses, this year’s starting libero and captain Megan Canavan was also swept away from the lineup when she ended up with a broken foot after the holiday training season. Although younger players have had to step up this year, veteran and middle blocker Erinn Bickle still remains a strong force, who teammate Lloyd notes “continues to provide us with consistent results.”

Although the team is currently in 10th place in the OUA standings, Lloyd remains positive.

“We still have a chance to make playoffs; all we need to do is buckle down and play with no regrets. The season is not over for us,” said Lloyd.

Indeed its not; the team has five more games, in which they can turn their 5-8 wins to losses around.

“Our passing needs to improve in order for our offense to get better. We also need to do a better job of blocking against outside attacks,” said Funk. The only question remains: will the Gryphons shake this slump in order to make playoffs?

Your anonymous comment may be printed in The Ontarion's print publication.