KINGSTON, Ont. (January 23, 2016) – The Gaels (8-5) put away three straight sets (25-11, 25-23, 25-18) this Saturday evening against the Nipissing Lakers (2-11). With this win the Gaels stretch their streak to four straight victories and mark their third consecutive win of 2016.
Shannon Neville (Cambridge, Ont.) led all scorers with 12 kills, 10 digs and two service aces while libero
Becky Wilson (Pickering, Ont.) picked up 20 digs in the Gaels win. Rookie
Franzi Wilhelm (Lichtenstein, Germany) contributed 35 assists as well as nine digs and four service aces. For the visitors, Erika Lapierre scored seven kills and 11 digs as Christina Caruso held up the defensive end of the action with her 19 digs.
GAME FLOW The hosts set the bar high as they opened their night with a seven point run that forced the Lakers back on their heels using up a timeout before either team had reached double digits. Queen's cruised into a 16-6 lead at the technical timeout and continued to dominate after the break. Rookie
Kylie Butler (Forthill, Ont.) sealed the first frame with a kill right down the line putting the Gaels ahead 1-0 with the 25-11 set win.
It was a closer campaign in the second set as the Lakers turned up the heat on the Gaels, hitting a five point run to grab a narrow 8-7 lead off a service ace. By the technical timeout the Lakers had managed to fight through eight tied points to get ahead of Queen's 16-15. Following the break the Gaels took their first timeout of the match as the Lakers stretched their lead to two points. Queen's regained their footing out of the timeout to get back out in front and smack down a set win of 25-23 despite the increased Nipissing pressure.
The Gaels got ahead early in the final frame while the Lakers kept it close as they had in the second set, only trailing 16-12 at the technical timeout. After dropping two points to Nipissing, the Gaels dug in their heels and forced Nipissing to use both their timeouts before facing a six point deficit at the match point. Queen's finished their night with a long defensive rally that scored them the final point and the 3-0 victory over the Lakers.
BY THE NUMBERS 0.519 – The Queen's percentage in the first set.
2 – Queen's only gave up two errors in their first set against Nipissing.
4 – Current Gael's winning streak.
6 – The Gaels go 5-1 in their last six OUA regular season games.
UP NEXT The Gaels will be on the road to Toronto next weekend where they will take on the Varsity Blues Friday, January 29 and the Ryerson Rams Saturday, January 30. Both games are scheduled for 6:00 pm.
