KINGSTON, Ont.- Shannon Neville and Shannon Hopkins each recorded a game-high 14 points, and the Queen's Gaels women's volleyball team ended their regular season on a four-game winning streak, capped off with a straight sets victory (25-13, 25-14, 25-21) over the RMC Paladins on Saturday evening at the Athletics and Recreation Centre.
 
GAME FLOW
Hopkins (North Vancouver, B.C.) tallied a game-best 12 kills for the Gaels, and worked at an impressive .476 hitting percentage on Saturday, while Neville (Cambridge, Ont.) added two aces and a block to help the Gaels clinch third-place in the OUA East division. Niki Slikboer (Seagrave, Ont.) added 10 kills and two blocks, and Caroline Livingston (Kelowna, B.C.) grabbed five kills and a pair of blocks in the victory. Nicole Behnke picked up a team-best eight kills, and Kara Stephan had seven kills and 12 points for the Paladins, who finish the season with a 1-18 record.
 
RMC struggled with their hitting throughout the contest, working at an overall efficiency of .087, while Queen's worked at a .394 efficiency and picked up just one error in each of the first two sets of play. The host's offence slowed down only slightly in the final set, and the women finished with just seven errors total, compared to 18 from the visitors.
 
The Gaels (12-7) finish the regular season just one win ahead of the Ottawa Gee-Gees, which makes Saturday's win that much more critical. Instead of facing the undefeated Toronto Varsity Blues (19-0), who are currently ranked No. 2 in the CIS, in the first round of the OUA playoffs, the women have earned a road playoff date with the second-place Ryerson Rams (13-6) next week. The Gaels needed, along with their own win, a win from Waterloo who was visiting Ottawa and the Warriors did just that in straight sets.  
 
BY THE NUMBERS
48- The Gaels picked up 48 kills on Saturday, their most in three-set matches this season
7- Their seven errors is the lowest the women tallied in conference play
7- It was the seventh time this season that Shannon Hopkins has tallied 10 or more kills
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels will take on the Ryerson Rams in Toronto for the first round of the OUA playoffs next week. The OUA Final Four is scheduled for the following weekend.