Toronto (February 14, 2009) – It was almost an upset, but in the end the No. 1 seeded York Lions prevailed over the hungry Queen's Gaels 3-2, in a Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarter final match on Saturday.
Queen's used everything they had pushing York in a lengthy two-and-a-half hour marathon eventually falling 25-21, 24-26, 18-25, 25-20, 15-17.
Coming into Saturday's contest the Lions finished in first place of the OUA East division after posting a sparkling 18-1 regular season record while the Gaels finished in fourth with a 10-9 record.
Leading the way for the Gaels was rookie
Natalie Gray of Oshawa, Ont., who had 14 assists and 17 digs in the losing effort.
Colleen Ogilvie of Calgary finished with 14 points as well while
Katie Matthews of Aurora, Ont., had 13.
Lions' rookie Thinesa Sriskandarajah of Scarborough, Ont., finished with a game-high 24 points (23 kills) and 12 digs, while veteran Candice Paulsen also of Scarborough had 20 points, including 16 kills and three services aces in the win.
“It's tough to swallow, and we had chances,” said Christian-Macfarlane. “We improved a lot this season and although I believed we were capable of much more, we played until the end.”
She noted that her team fought back from a 14-9 deficit in the final set to finish at 17-15.
“It's a level of character that we haven't shown all year,” said Christian-Macfarlane. “They dug in and battled. The future is bright for our program if stay together and build on those little accomplishments.”
Queen's concludes the 2008-09 campaign with its first winning record since posting a 12-5 mark in the 2003-04 season. The Gaels also improved three games from their 7-12 mark last season.
Individually, Ogilvie finishes the year as the Gaels top scorer averaging 3.21 points per game ranking her 12th in the OUA. Kristen Collins of Whitby, Ont., finished eighth in the OUA with assists.
York Lion's Game Recap
http://www.yorku.ca/sprtyork/MediaReleases/Archive/Release.asp?Release=2523
