BOX SCORE KINGSTON, Ont. (January 12, 2013) – The Queen's Gaels (8-2) women's volleyball team was in action Saturday afternoon against the Brock Badgers (4-8), in their first game of the winter term. The Gaels fell behind two sets to none early, but never gave up, battling to force the game to five sets. The Gaels were able to successfully complete the comeback, shocking the Brock Badgers 15-13 in the final set. The Gaels ended the match winning 3-2 (25-27, 21-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-13) and improve to 8-2 in OUA play—to move into third place in the OUA.
 
The Gaels opened the first set on a 4-1 run, led by an Anna Pedjase (Waterloo, Ont.) ace and two well placed sets that led to tricolour kills. Brock was able to battle back and pull even with Queen's, capitalizing on errors by the Gaels. Queen's was able to regain some momentum halfway through the first frame with fourth-year middle Katie Neville (Cambridge, Ont.) recording a pivotal kill followed by two Alexandra Heine (Calgary) service aces and  Colleen Ogilvie's (Calgary) strong offside attack. Unfortunately for the Gaels, errors on the offensive and defensive side of the ball caught up with them and allowed the Badgers to build a lead with their increased time of possession. Brock left-side Tori Stirling (Whitby, Ont.) was a crucial factor in the Badgers first-set comeback, recording three of Brock's kills after the 20 point mark. Despite glimpses of offensive production late in the first, the Gaels could not string together a long enough scoring streak to claim the set, and fell short 26-24.
 
Queen's got on the board first in the second set, with a Neville ace and a series of Brock errors. However it was five attacking errors by the Gaels early in the second that allowed the Badgers to take an early lead. Three consecutive service aces by Brock left-side Katie Murray (London, Ont.) put the Badgers up by seven points—a difficult lead to come back from. Queen's was able to rally back off a series of Heine kills, with assists coming from Pedjase, which brought the Gaels within two points. It was not enough however as the Badgers were able to close out the second set, 25-21.
 
After a long opening rally in the third set, Katie Hagarty (Aurora, Ont.) was able to get the Gaels up early sending a heavy kill into the Badgers floor. Ogilvie and Katie Hagarty kept the run alive recording two additional kills and putting them up 4-1. Queen's never looked back in the third set, fighting to keep the game alive and cruising past the Badgers, 25-17. The Hagarty sisters, Katie and Brett, of Aurora, Ont. were key factors for the Gaels as they contributed on 15 of the 25 points in the third set. 
 
Brock opened up the fourth set with a kill from Tori Stirling, however Queen's was able to stay even with the Badgers, until eventually pulling away with the help of great serving from Ogilvie. The Gaels went up by three mid-way through the set, however errors quickly caught up with Queen's and they found themselves once again deadlocked with Brock. Late in the fourth the Badgers found themselves in error trouble, going into the technical timeout trailing the Gaels by four, 16-12. A Katie Hagarty kill followed by a service ace, a Kelsey Bishop (North Vancouver, B.C.) kill and a Katie Neville kill closed the set out 25-22 for the Gaels—forcing a fifth and deciding set.
 
The fifth set featured the Gaels and Badgers exchanging points until the mid-way point when Brock was able to pull ahead, off Queen's errors. However, a Gaels three point run headlined by back-to-back Brett Hagarty aces allowed Queen's to regain the lead. The Badgers were able to draw even at 10, and both teams went on to exchange points until point 13 point when Queen's was able to pull ahead off a Heine service ace. Brock helped Queen's to victory recording a service error to close out the final set 15-13.  
 
Third-year middle Katie Hagarty earned the player of the game nod for the Gaels, recording seven kills, a team high 13 digs and a game-high 33% kill efficiency.

The Queen's Gaels women's volleyball team looks to further build on their impressive record when the host the Waterloo Warriors on Sunday. Game time is set for noon at the ARC Main Gym.