Kingston, Ont. (February 14, 2009) – It was a roller coaster victory, but in the end Queen's men's volleyball knocked off the Waterloo Warriors 3-2 in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) semi finals held Saturday in Bartlett Gymnasium.

With the win, Queen's meets the McMaster Marauders in the OUA Finals for the third straight season on Tuesday.

Queen's captured the opening set against Waterloo 25-18 before the Warriors rattled off victories in the middle sets by the score of 25-19 in both games. The Gaels battled back in the fourth set to earn a 25-22 win setting up a dramatic fifth set.

In the final set, both teams battled back-and-forth with neither seeing more than a two point advantage between them. Although the lead never changed hands in the final 10 points, Waterloo was able to even the score on five different occasions including a 15-15 reckoning. The roller coaster ended with the Gaels capturing the final two points and the set 17-15.

Joren Zeeman of Cambridge, Ont., was Queen's leading scorer recording 19 points with 16 kills and two service aces. He also recorded seven digs. Jeff DeMeza of Calgary followed with 17 points including 12 kills, and two aces. DeMeza led all players with 14 digs. Setter Daniel Rosenbaum of Hamilton registered 45 assists.

Matt Synder of Kitchener, Ont., was the game's leading scorer collecting 22 points in the loss for Waterloo. Andrew Thorpe of Ingersoll, Ont. tallied 42 assists and 10 digs.

Waterloo headed into the game after dumping the Western Mustangs 3-0 in the OUA quarter finals earlier this week. The Gaels are seeded No. 2 in the playoffs and had split the season series at one game apiece against the Warriors.

The Gaels now turn their attention to the McMaster Marauders who dusted the Guelph Gryphons 3-0 on Saturday afternoon to advance to the finals. This will be the fifth year in a row the Gaels have met McMaster in the playoffs with Queen's seeking its third title in four years.

Last year, McMaster swept the Gaels in the best-of-three series. This year Queen's and McMaster split their season series 1-1. McMaster claimed a November 8 meeting 3-1 in Hamilton, while Queen's captured a 3-2 win back on January in Bartlett Gymnasium.

Queen's will host game one of the three-game OUA Final on Tuesday, February 17. Play begins at 7:00pm inside Bartlett Gymnasium on campus at Queen's University. McMaster will host the remaining games of the series on Thursday, February 19 and if necessary Saturday, February 21.