KINGSTON, Ont. (January 24, 2015) – This Saturday afternoon the Gaels (10-5) were defeated by the No.4 Toronto Varsity Blues (14-0) in three strong rallied sets with set scores 25-18, 25-17, and 25-17.
 
The Gaels opened the scoring in the first set with a serving ace from Brett Hagarty (Aurora, Ont.).  Queen's managed to match the No.4 ranked Varsity Blues early on in the set but Toronto stepped up their defence to shut down the Gaels attack and take a nine point lead.  Despite Queen's best effort to keep the set alive with a three-point streak at Toronto's game point, a left side kill from the Varsity Blues ended it 25-18.
 
In the second set the Varsity Blues asserted their dominance by getting the first point on the board.  The Gaels took their first lead since the first set as Brett managed to break her way through the Toronto defence.  The Varsity Blues managed to get an 11-point edge on the Gaels but Nikki Slikboer (Seagrave, Ont.) shut it down with a right side kill and followed up with a serving ace.  Unable to close the deficit, Toronto took the set 25-17.
 
Once again, in the final set the Varsity Blues opened the scoring as they took the lead but Toronto, looking a bit disorganized, had a few attacking errors which tied the game up early at 5-5.  The Gaels held on as Slikboer and Brett showed immense versatility as they doubled on defence and attack but Toronto managed a to take a slight lead.  Queen's rallied hard against the Varsity Blues but was stopped by Toronto's impenetrable defence and strong attacks.  An accidental double touch by the Gaels finished todays match early for Queen's, 25–17.
 
The top scorer in this afternoons match was Queen's player, Brett Hagarty, with 16 kills and one serving ace.  Close behind was Varsity Blues senior player Jennifer Neilson with 13 kills and three serving aces.  
 
The Gaels are back in action tomorrow afternoon as they host the Ryerson Rams at 1pm in the ARC main gym.