KINGSTON, Ont. (February 16, 2018) - In their final home weekend of the season the Gaels (8-8) were able to clinch a playoff spot Friday night as they swept the Toronto Varsity Blues (6-10) 3-0.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels took an early lead in the opening set as
Mitchell Neuert (Toronto) was able to land an ace to put the Gaels up 3-1. The two teams went back-and-forth for a period before Queen's was finally able to pull away off of kills from
Markus Trence (Hockley Valley, Ont.) and
Jack Peckham (Hamilton). A pair of attack errors by Toronto gave the Gaels the set 25-20.
In the second frame, Queen's got out to another quick start and soon opened up a 16-10 lead on Nipissing. Errors continued to be the downfall in the match for the Varsity Blues as the Gaels began to pull away. A final ace from
Zane Grossinger (Richmond Hill, Ont.) put Queen's ahead 2-0 in the match taking the second set 25-18.
Toronto held their own in the third set, keeping pace with the Queen's offence through much of the frame. Errors began to haunt the Gaels in the match as Toronto looked to break away from Queen's and extend the match. Down 18-17, Queen's was able to take seven of the next nine points thanks to Toronto errors and another Grossinger ace. Grossinger then set
Malcolm Prentice (Oakville, Ont.) who made no mistake with a kill from the middle to give the Gaels the set 25-21 and the match 3-0.
BY THE NUMBERS
11 - Kills for Trence
1 - More home game for Gaels head coach
Brenda Willis as she is set to retire after the season
2 - Aces from each of Grossinger, Hutcheson and Neuert
UP NEXT
The Gaels are back in action tomorrow night at 8 pm as the Ryerson Rams visit the ARC. It will be
Brenda Willis' final regular season home game before her retirement after the season. Tickets are available at gogaelsgo.com/tickets, and the action can be seen live on OUA.tv.
