Kingston, Ont. (February 12, 2009) – The playoffs are back and the Queen's Gaels (16-4) will meet the Cinderella Waterloo Warriors (12-9) in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Semi-Final game held Saturday inside Bartlett Gymnasium on campus at Queen's University.
On Wednesday night, the sixth seeded Waterloo upset the third seeded Western Mustangs in straight sets 25-20, 25-16 and 25-22 in the OUA Quarter Finals.
Last week, the Gaels saved Waterloo's playoff hopes as the Gaels defeated the Ryerson Rams in the regular season finale which handed Waterloo a berth into the playoffs. Waterloo and Ryerson finished tied for sixth place, but the Warriors held the playoff tie-breaker.
Tyler Vivian of Mitchell, Ont., and Cameron Dunning of Calgary, command much respect in the Warriors offence. Vivian leads the team in points with 254 while hitting 220 kills, 23 aces and picking up 11 blocks. Dunning has 236.50 points on 205 kills, 12 aces and a team leading 23 blocks.
The Gaels counter with
Joren Zeeman of Cambridge, Ont., and fifth-year veteran
Jeff DeMeza of Calgary. Zeeman leads the Gaels with 245 points on 209 kills, 17 aces and 21 blocks. DeMeza sits second in points wit h223.50 producing 195 kills, 18 aces, and 10 blocks.
Defensively Queen's will turn to second-year middle,
Michael Amoroso of Toronto, who leads the team in blocks with a total of 41, while libero
Stu Hamilton of Ottawa, has tallied 135 digs this season.
Queen's is in very familiar territory and will aim to earn their fourth consecutive OUA Championship appearance. Last year the Gaels dusted Ryerson 3-1 before falling to McMaster two games to one in a best-of-three championship. This is Waterloo's first appearance in the semi-finals since 2000-01 where they fell to Western 3-1.
This year, the Gaels and Warriors split the season series with each team taking their respective home game Queen's won in straight sets on November 23 (25-19, 25-23, 25-20), before falling in five sets on January 16 in Waterloo (25-13, 32-30, 23-25, 23-25, 12-15). The Gaels hold a slight edge over Waterloo scoring 20 more points in the season series 190-170; they also have not lost to Waterloo inside Bartlett Gymnasium since January 11, 2004.
The OUA Semi-Final is set for this Saturday inside Bartlett Gymnasium with the game scheduled for 7:00pm. Tickets are on sale by calling 613.533.2500 or in person at the Customer Service counter at the Physical Education Centre.
