KINGSTON, Ont. (January 11, 2015) – This Sunday the Gaels (9-4) fell to the York Lions (7-5) 2-3 in a tough fought match, snapping their six game winning streak with set scores 20-25, 16-25, 25-20, 25-16 and 11-15. 
 
Brett Hagarty (Aurora, Ont.) opened the scoring in the first set for the Gaels with an unstoppable kill against York. The play went back and forth between the two teams until the Lions managed to get a seven-point streak putting them comfortably ahead of the Gaels 23-13.  Queen's managed to close the 10-point gap down at the Lions game point but a final kill by York player Veneta Mincheva ended the first set at 25-20.
 
In the second set the Lions opened the scoring against the Gaels and continued to lead for the rest of the set, as Queen's was unable to get ahead.  York had a strong cross-court attack against the Gaels and managed to get behind the Queen's blocks to take the set 25-16.
 
In the third set Queen's rallied hard, finally managing to grab a point advantage at the 14-point mark with successful attacks by the Gaels.  Defensive efforts by Queen's shutdown the Lions attack which enabled Brett Hagarty to bring the Gaels to game point with a serving ace.  An attacking error by York gave Queen's their first set win on the afternoon at 25-20.
 
Once again, in the fourth set the Lions opened the scoring but the Gaels turned up the heat with Shannon Neville (Cambridge, Ont.) setting the tone for the next set.  Play went back and forth between the two teams until the 11-point mark where the Gaels managed to get a back-to-back four-point and five-point streaks putting them well ahead of the Lions.  Neville finished off the set for Queen's with a kill from Danielle Blumentrath (Burlington, Ont.), 25-16, forcing a final fifth set to determine the outcome of the match.
 
Neville opened the scoring for Queen's in the final set but the Lions quickly grabbed a slight lead, taking the advantage.  Despite a hard fought match by the Gaels, the York Lions managed a few sly tips over Queen's blocks to take the set to game point.  A serving error by the Gaels finished the match at 15-11, giving the Lions the 3-2 win over Queen's.
 
The top scorer in today's game was the York Lions Brittney Hopley with a game high of 20 kills and one serving ace.  Close behind was Neville who led the attack for the Gaels with 18 kills and eight digs.  On defence the Gaels Katie Hagarty (Aurora, Ont.), Niki Slikboer (Seagrave, Ont.) and Blumentrath held down the fort with three assisted blocks each. 
 
The Gaels are back in action next Saturday at 3pm at RMC against the Paladins.