BOX SCORE KINGSTON, Ont. (October 27th, 2018) – The Queen's Men's Volleyball Team (0-1) fell to the Windsor Lancers (1-0) 3-2 on Saturday Afternoon at the ARC Main Gym in a five-set thriller. 
 
GAME FLOW
The match against Windsor not only represented the start of a new OUA campaign for the Gaels but also the Head coaching debut of Gabriel de Groot. De Groot enters his first year as the head coach of the men's volleyball program at Queen's after serving as the lead men's assistant coach at Queen's since the 2010-11 season.
 
The Lancers took the opening set 25-17 as the Gaels struggled offensively, attacking at a rate of only .091 % in comparison to the Lancers at .360 %. The best performer of the first set for the Gaels was fourth-year outside hitter Zac Hutcheson with five kills.
 
It was much of the same for the Gaels in the second set as they once again fell to the Lancers 25-17. The Lancers continued to attack at a deadly rate, this time pushing their percentage up to .409 and with Dami Alalade converting on seven of his eight kills. The Lancers also had only five attacking errors in comparison to the Gaels' 13 through two sets.
                                      
The Gaels battled hard in the 3^rd set, keeping it close and eventually taking the lead at 17-16. With two chances to close out the set a 24-22, The Gaels were unable to covert. However, after a wild 16 total set points between the two teams, the Gaels finally prevailed 38-36 and took the match to a 4^thset. The Gaels 3^rd set was their most efficient of the match with an attacking rate of .250, Zac Hutcheson also added another five kills to his tally for a team-high of 10 through three sets.
 
With renewed confidence, the Gaels took 12 of the first 17 points in the 4^thset and never looked back, taking the 4^thset 25-13. The Gaels were ultra-effective in the 4^th, converting half of their kills with only two attacking errors. 
 
In the 5^thand deciding set, The Lancers had a return to their early form, erasing a Gaels advantage before triumphing 15-9. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS
55 – Assists for Queen's setter Zane Grossinger
10 – Digs by Gaels players Mitchell Neuert and Zach Hutcheson
 
FINAL SAY
Head Coach Gabriel DeGroot reflected on what let his team down in the final set: "We let up our serving aggression a bit too much and gave Windsor a few too many opportunities to close it out". 
 
UP NEXT
Next up the Gaels face the Western Mustangs at the ARC Main Gym (3:00 pm) on Sunday October 28^th.