WATERLOO, Ont. (February 6, 2016) – The No.8 Queen's Gaels (12-5) had a promising start to their night as they scored the first set, but the Waterloo Warriors (9-8) answered with three straight sets to grab the 3-1 (23-25, 28-26, 25-21, 25-17) comeback win this Saturday night.
Once again the Gaels saw a strong performance from their veteran outside hitter
Marko Dakic (Mississauga, Ont.) who led their offence with 14 kills off a 0.216 hitting percentage as well as picking up six digs and smashing down two serving aces. Stratford native
Mike Tomlinson followed him up with 13 kills and seven digs while
Ivo Dramov (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) picked up the team high 10 digs.
On the Waterloo side of the action Braden Cok and Aidan Simone chalked up a formidable 22 kills apiece, together adding 47 points in the match. Erich Woolley was the defensive powerhouse as he picked up 16 digs to support the Warriors in their win.
GAME FLOWIt was a close campaign to start out the night with 12 tied scores in the first set as the teams traded leads. The Warriors met the technical timeout with a slim 16-15 lead but the Gaels kept right on their heels and after hitting a three point run, were able to ring in a 25-23 set win.
Although Waterloo led early in the second set they were facing a two point deficit by the technical timeout. They managed to catch the Gaels at 17 points and push them back on their heels as Waterloo reached 24 points ahead by three. Queen's fought off set points but the Warriors sealed the set off back to back kills to tie the match up at 1-1.
The Warriors picked up speed as they entered the third frame, increasing their efficiency to 0.433 and hitting a six point run midway through the set to give them the advantage they needed to put away the set 25-21. The hosts didn't slow in the final set, doubling the Gaels by the technical and blowing through the turn, up 20-12. The Gaels scored three consecutive points late in the match but they couldn't recover from their deficit which handed the Warriors the 25-17 set, topping off their 3-1 victory.
BY THE NUMBERS 0.340 –
Marko Dakic has managed a 0.340 hitting percentage this season.
51 – Assists by Waterloo setter Gibson Graham in the match.
6 – With this win Waterloo stretches their winning streak to six matches.
UP NEXT The Gaels will be back on their home court next weekend when they will match up against the Western Mustangs on Saturday, February 13 at 3:00 pm.
