TORONTO (January 27, 2018) – The Queen's Gaels (6-5) were victorious in a 3-1 set game against the Toronto Varsity Blues (5-6) on Saturday afternoon, jumping ahead of both Toronto and Nipissing in the OUA standings. The scores of each set were 25-22, 20-25, 25-23 and 25-19.

GAME FLOW
In the first set, the Gaels and the Varsity Blues were evenly matched early on. Quickly, the Tricolour stepped up their offensive attacks and took the lead and managed a score of 16-13 heading into the first set technical timeout. Queen's continued to play strong defence and kept Toronto from making kills and surpassing their lead. The Tricolour won the set with a score of 25-22.

In the second set, the Tricolour fell behind Toronto early on in the frame. The Gaels tried to catch the lead held by the Varsity Blues but were unable to even up the score. Queen's lost the second set with a score of 25-20 for the Varsity Blues.

The third set was very evenly matched most of the play. The Tricolour and Varsity Blues were tied at 10-10 until the Gaels took a kill streak, finding holes in the Toronto defence. The Gaels held a five-point lead over Toronto, but the Varsity Blues fought their way back from a deficit to make it a tight set. The Gaels ultimately won the set with a close score of 25-23.

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?ACE? from Grossinger to end it, Gaels win??#OUA #USPORTS #GoGaelsGo pic.twitter.com/n3YNfBCt1U

— Queen's Gaels (@queensgaels) January 27, 2018

The fourth and final set of the match was played in favour of the Tricolour. The Gaels found an early lead on the Varsity Blues and played a tight defensive set until the score was 16-11. The Varsity Blues fell short of an even score at 19-18, but the Gaels held their own and kept their lead. The Queen's Gaels won the set and the game with a score of 25-19 finishing off the game on an ace from Zane Grossinger (Richmond Hill, Ont.).

Jack Peckham (Hamilton) led the Gaels in kills and blocks this game, with 12 kills and seven blocks. Markus Trence (Hockley Valley, Ont.) and Lukas Kaufman (Stratford, Ont.) both racked up 13 digs each, playing a fantastic defensive game. Grossinger took two serving aces against the Varsity Blues.

BY THE NUMBERS
4 – Aces against the Toronto Varsity Blues
12 – Kills for Jack Peckham, a new Gaels career high
22 – Errors made by the Gaels this game
700 - Trence passed the 700 mark in career kills and now sits at 704

UP NEXT
The Gaels match up against the Ryerson Rams in Toronto tomorrow at 4 pm. Catch the action live on OUA.tv.