KINGSTON, Ont. (February 15, 2018) - The Queen's Gaels (12-5) lost a tough five-set battle to the Toronto Varsity Blues (13-4) in OUA women's volleyball on Friday night.

GAME FLOW
The Varsity Blues got out to a quick start on the Gaels scoring the opening sets first six points. Queen's responded with 11 of the following 14 points to go out in front of Toronto 11-8. Veteran Shannon Neville (Cambridge, Ont.) took the Gaels to the technical timeout with a 16-13 after serving up an ace. Sierra Hardy (Oakville, Ont.) set up Isabelle Korchinski (Anmore, B.C.) for a kill from the right side to close out the opening set 25-21 for Queen's.

The second set saw a dominant performance from the Gaels as they pushed ahead quickly to a 22-9 lead on Toronto. The Gaels finished the set with 0.273 hitting percentage and finished off the frame 25-18 after fending off a late Toronto run. The set also saw the return of Gaels veteran Caroline Livingston (Kelowna, B.C.) who returned to the court after missing the majority of the season due to injury.

Both the third and fourth sets saw both teams going back and forth in a competitive match. Each frame needed extra points, and despite the Gaels having multiple chances to close out the match, Toronto was always able to climb back. The Blues saw the duo of Alina Dormann and Anna Feore come up big to get them back in the match and force a fifth set.

A quick run from the Varsity Blues saw them jump ahead with a 6-0 lead in the final frame as attacking errors plagued the Gaels offence. Toronto used that cushion to finish off the set 15-8 and claim the match 3-2.

BY THE NUMBERS
1st - Set played by Livingston since Nov. 10 against Guelph as she returns from injury
2nd - Place in the East is still within the Gaels grasp, but they will need to win their remaining games and see Toronto drop one. The Gaels do hold the tie-breaker
54 - Assists for Hardy
4 - Aces for Neville

UP NEXT
The Gaels are back in action tomorrow night as the No.6 Ryerson Rams visit Queen's at the ARC at 6 pm. Tickets are available at gogaelsgo.com/tickets or catch the action live on OUA.tv.