KINGSTON, Ont. (October 25, 2014) - It took the full five sets, but the Gaels dropped Western 3-2 on Saturday night at the ARC, 25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 15-25, 15-12.

The teams traded sets in the match, with Queen's winning all of the odd numbered sets. Niki Slikboer (Seagrave, Ont.) got her strong blocking game going early in the match, winning the first set for the Gaels with a solo block in the middle. Finishing the match with five total blocks, Slikboer repeated her first set performance in the third set with another set winning block. On match point in the fifth set, Brett Hagarty killed a set from Danielle Blumentrath (Burlington, Ont.) to win it for Queen's.

Strong serving helped the Gaels throughout the match, as they finished with 11 aces to only five service errors, compared to Western's six aces and ten service errors. Shannon Neville (Cambridge, Ont.) and Blumentrath led Queen's serving charge, each recording three aces and errors from the service line. Slikboer and Katie Hagarty (Aurora, Ont.) served a pair of aces each, with Katie also serving through a six point run in the first set for Queen's.

Neville recorded the Gaels team high in kills for the second straight night, with 14 against the Mustangs, and added 17 digs. Brett also had a balanced game for Queen's, recording 13 kills and 19 digs. Joining Brett with 19 digs was Gaels libero Becky Wilson (Picking, Ont.).

Western's three best players on Saturday were a trio of first years, showing glimpses of how good the team could be in years to come. Courtney Sestric was everywhere for the Mustangs on defence, recording a game-high 28 digs. Taylor Beedie on the outside and Kelsey Veltman in the middle led Western's attack, killing 18 and 15 hits, respectively. 

Next up on the Gaels schedule, Queen's (1-1) hits the road on Halloween to play Ryerson before playing at Toronto on Saturday.