PETERBOROUGH, Ont. (February 25, 2018) – The Queen's Gaels took the win over the Trent Excalibur in a hard fought four set match with a score of 3-1. The scores of each set were 18-25, 25-22, 25-14 and 25-15 in head coach Brenda Willis' final regular season game before retirement. The Gaels will now meet Western in the OUA playoffs next Saturday in London.

GAME FLOW
In the first set of the match, the Gaels got off to a rocky start, unable to find holes in the Excalibur defence. Trent demonstrated their defensive capabilities and capitalized on defensive blocks. The Excalibur ultimately took the first set with a score of 25-18 over the Gaels.

The Gaels found their offensive game in the second set, making 10 kills over the Excalibur and limiting their errors to four. The Tricolour also stepped up their defensive game, Lukas Kaufman (Stratford, Ont.) made several digs to keep the Gaels in the lead. Queen's took the second set with a score of 25-22 and tied the game at 1-1.

In the third set of the game, the Gaels continued their offensive momentum, making 14 kills and no errors. The Tricolour also played a tight defensive game, only allowing the Excalibur to find five kills. Queen's capitalized on every scoring opportunity, winning the set with a score of 25-14.

The fourth and final set of the match was played strongly by Queen's, taking 12 kills and zero errors. The Gaels allowed Trent to make eight kills this set but it wasn't enough for the Excalibur to take the lead. Queen's won the fourth set with a score of 25-15.

16 kills made by Zac Hutchinson (Kingston, Ont.), six kills made by Jack Peckham (Hamilton, Ont.) and five kills made by Markus Trence (Hockley Valley, Ont.) and Mitchell Neuert (Toronto, Ont.) kept the Gaels in the lead over Trent. Aces made by Julian Krygel (Dundas, Ont.) and Mathieu Utting (Ottawa, Ont.) contributed to the Gaels offence and digs made by Kaufman and Zane Grossinger (Richmond Hill, Ont.) kept the Tricolour defence strong.

BY THE NUMBERS
2 – serving aces for Julian Krygel
4 – block assists for Mitchell Neuert
16 – kills for Zac Hutchinson, leading the Gaels this game

UP NEXT
The Gaels head into playoff season, with the quarter final game played on March 3rd 2018 at Western.