HAMILTON - The Queen's Gaels saw their season come to a close after losing out in a five set thriller to the Waterloo Warriors in the OUA Bronze medal match Friday evening at McMaster in Hamilton.

The Warriors finish third in the OUA and also qualify for the CIS Championship next weekend also at McMaster.

GAME FLOW
The opening set established a trend for the rest of match as the Gaels and Warriors went back and forth trading points throughout the first set. Queen's saw a pair of three point leads holding court at 10-7 and 21-18 but the Warriors were able to keep pace on each occasion. Up 24-22, the Gaels had a pair of set points but Waterloo was able to extend the set tying things up at 24-24. Fifth-year veteran Marko Dakic (Mississauga, Ont.) went to work from there, as he laid down a pair of kills to give the Gaels a 1-0 lead taking the set 26-24.

The second set started with a four point streak for the Gaels, with the fourth coming off an ace from setter Jamie Wright (Kingston, Ont.) forcing the Warriors to call a timeout. With the set tied up at 12-12, Waterloo rattled off eight of the next 10 points to take a commanding 20-14 lead. From there, they were able to secure the set winning 25-17 after Greg Simone served up an ace.

After going back-and-forth in the third set the Gaels and Warriors were tied up at 10-10. Queen's took 10 of the next 14 points to go up 20-14.  The Simone brothers committed three combined errors in the final five points of the set, giving the Gaels an easy finish to a 25-16 win.

In the fourth set, facing elimination, Waterloo controlled the pace throughout. They saw leads of 11-7, 20-14 and 24 19 before Queen's was able to get to within two points once again. The Warriors Aidan Simone picked up a kill forcing a fifth and final set.

In the fifth down 10-9, Dakic picked up back-to-back kills putting Queen's ahead 11-10. The Warriors picked up four straight points from there to vault ahead 14-11 looking to close out the match. Mike Tomlinson (Stratford, Ont.) picked up a kill to get the Gaels within two but it was Braden Cok laying down the final blow and giving Waterloo a five set victory.

BY THE NUMBERS
4th - Place finish for the Gaels, their best since winning the OUA Championship in 2012
1 - Spot earned in the CIS Championship for Waterloo, joining McMaster and Ryerson from OUA conference
8 - Blocks for Mike Tomlinson in the match
104 - Assists combined by the two setters Gibson Graham and Jamie Wright