KINGSTON, Ont. (February 17, 2018) - The Queen's Gaels (9-8) finished with a dominant performance in a 3-0 sweep of the Ryerson Rams (11-5) in the final home game for head coach
Brenda Willis.
Prior to the match, the Gaels honoured their graduating seniors as
Jack Peckham (Hamilton),
Thomas Ellison (Winnipeg) and
Markus Trence (Hockley Valley, Ont.) were recognized.
The Gaels then honoured long-time head coach
Brenda Willis as the crowd filled with fans and alumni erupted for a standing ovation. Willis is set to retire at the conclusion of the season.
GAMEFLOW
The Gaels used the emotion from the start of the game to ride the momentum to an opening 7-3 lead aided by a pair of kills from
Zac Hutcheson (Kingston, Ont.). Ryerson could not shake off the rust in the opening set after a long opening ceremony, and it showed as they committed multiple errors in the set. Hutcheson and
Joel Rudd (Cambridge, Ont.) both picked up late kills but errors sealed the set for the Gaels 25-16.
In the second set, the Rams and Gaels kept the match close in the early stages. With the Gaels ahead 9-8 in the set Queen's was able to take eight of the next nine points to take a stranglehold on the set. Attacking errors continued to plague the Rams, and a final kill from Rudd gave Queen's the set 25-17.
The final frame was once again all Gaels as they jumped out to another lead, this time 13-8 in the early stages of the set. With the Gaels ahead 15-13 the momentum was too much for the Ryerson Rams to handle. The Gaels finished off the set and the match with the next 10 of 11 points with the game ending on a Hutcheson ace for the 25-14 set and 3-0 match win.
BY THE NUMBERS
363 - Career victory for
Brenda Willis, the most for any Queen's volleyball coach
13 - Kills for Hutcheson
4 - Blocks for Peckham
33 - Total errors from Ryerson compared to just 19 for the Gaels
UP NEXT
The Gaels will close out their regular season next Sunday when they visit the Trent Excalibur at 6 pm in Peterborough.
