KINGSTON, Ont. (February 4, 2018) – The Queen's Gaels (6-8) suffered a 3-1 set loss against the McMaster Marauders (12-1) on Sunday afternoon. The scores of each set were 19-25, 25-22, 25-15 and 25-13.

GAME FLOW
In the first set of the match, the Gaels started the game finding holes in the McMaster defence with frontcourt kills by Malcolm Prentice (Oakville, Ont.). Joel Rudd (Cambridge, Ont.) took points on tips over the Marauder blocks, and Jack Peckham (Hamilton) sent several kills to the Marauders frontcourt. Peckham continued to find pockets in the McMaster defence, and Markus Trence (Hockley Valley, Ont.) began hitting kills to extend the Gaels lead. The Tricolour made strong recoveries and serve receives to allow the offence to progress. Queen's took the set on a kill made by Trence ending the set with a score of 25-19.

The second set of the match started off with even play between the Gaels and the Marauders. An ace by Trence broke through the McMaster defence, but the Marauders came back to play a point for point set. Kills by Peckham, Rudd and Mitchell Neuert (Toronto) put the Tricolour on the board, maintaining their offensive momentum from the previous set. The Gaels continued to send kills toward the Marauders to keep them in the game, but McMaster's defence showed their strengths with digs on the Gaels offence. The Marauders took a two-point lead and maintained their gap over the Gaels until they took the set with a score of 25-22.

Prentice and Trence found kills to the back court of the Marauders defence early on in the third set, but the Marauders offence took the lead over the Gaels once again. The Gaels battled hard for every kill and eventually caught and surpassed McMaster's score. The possession of the lead was passed back and forth between Queen's and McMaster until the Marauders made a 13-1 streak, holding the Gaels at bay. The Marauders stepped up their defensive intensity, blocking any hits the Tricolour sent their way. McMaster took the set with a score of 25-15 on an unreturnable kill to the Gaels court.

In the fourth set, the Gaels fell behind the Marauders early on and trailed McMaster for the majority of the set. Kills from Peckham, Zane Grossinger (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Rudd put some points on the board but kills from the Marauders continued to fall in the gaps between the Gaels defence. The Tricolour were unable to push hits through McMaster's blocks, and the Marauders ultimately took the set with a score of 25-13.

BY THE NUMBERS
1 – Ace for both Trence and Neuert
12 – Digs for Zane Grossinger
14 – Kills for Mitchell Neuert against the Marauders

UP NEXT
The Gaels stay in Kingston to take on the RMC Paladins in the ARC at 3 pm on Sunday, February 11th, 2018.