The Windsor Lancers men's volleyball team took the court on Sunday afternoon for their senior's day matchup against the Guelph Gryphons. The Lancers already had a playoff game locked up but were playing to make sure lone senior Josh Rankine's last game on his home floor was a win. The Lancers were locked in a tight one, forcing five sets of action at the St. Denis Centre, unfortunately they dropped that match 3-2 (17-25, 25-17, 17-25, 25-22 and 9-15)
 
GAME STATS
Peirce Johnson led all players in kills, scoring 17 for the Lancers. The Gryphons were led by Zachary Newman and his 14 kills.
 
Johnson also led all players in digs with 13. Guelph's defence was spearheaded by Joshua Green who had nine digs for the Gryphons.
 
Anthony DeGirolamo was the best teammate on the floor, posting 32 assists on the day. For the Gryphons it was Daiken Edwards setting everything up with 31 assists on the day.
 
GAME FLOW
The first set was tightly contested in the early going, but the Gryphons found some separation just before the technical timeout as they led by six at the first break. The Lancers had some solid rallies with the help of Nolan Langley and Adam Child, however the Guelph attack kept their foot on the gas as they forced the Lancers in to a timeout while trailing 23-14. Despite the defensive effort and a couple Guelph violations, the Lancers fell 25-17.
 
The Lancers jumped out an early lead in the second set, racing out to a 7-0 lead before the Gryphons were able to answer. The early Lancer run forced to the Gryphons' to take a timeout down 10-1 as John Moate made a great blocking play to give the Lancers their biggest lead of the day. The timeout served its purpose as Guelph answered with a four point run, forcing the Lancers to call time to get things back under control. Though the Blue and Gold were able to halt the run, they couldn't gain much more separation, but remained slightly ahead of their opponents. Luckily the Lancers were able to close out the set and won 25-17.
 
The third set was a cage match of sorts with neither team gaining any separation early.  Guelph managed to build a slight lead late in the set, going up 17-13 over the Lancers with some crafty offensive play and good defensive effort. The Gryphons secured the set with a great defensive play followed by an out of bounds by Windsor as Guelph took the set, 25-17.
 
The fourth set was just as much a grind as the third, with neither team being able to pull together a significant lead in the early stages of the set. Just about halfway through, the Lancers were able to force the Gryphons into a timeout when they took a 9-5 lead. Out of the timeout the Gryphons brought the game to within and kept it that way for quite some time, answering every Lancer advance with a point of their own. Despite the tightness of the game the Lancers were able to take the set with a nice spike by Pierce Johnson, 25-22.
 
Opening the fifth set, the Lancers had some trouble keeping the ball in play as they fell behind early 4-0 despite having the serve to start the set. The Lancers managed to get some points on the board but were still trailing 8-3 at the midway point of the set. The Gryphons kept their foot on the gas and despite Windsor taking a timeout, they couldn't stop the Guelph attack. The Gryphons took the set and the match, 15-9.
 
UP NEXT
Up next the Lancers head to Toronto for the OUA quarter-finals against the York Lions. Game time is set for 4:00pm on Saturday March 3, 2018.