HAMILTON (U SPORTS) – The Queen's Gaels threw everything they could at the second seeded Alberta Golden Bears but came up just short 3-1 in their quarter-final match at the TELUS 2018 U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship on Friday afternoon.
 
Championship Website
Schedule & Results
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For Queen's, Markus Trence had a top performance, registering 23.5 points, recording a game-high 20 kills. Trence, an OUA First Team All-Star was named Queen's player of the match.
 
Rookie Mitchell Neuert had 14 points for Queen's, earning the praise of head coach Brenda Willis.
 
"We have a very young team, with three second-years and two first-years, and I thought they played really well for where they're at physically and technically," said Willis. "Our biggest issue was that we didn't pass very well, and that's a problem because the middle and the middle-pipe combination is important for us. If we had passed a little better, and been a bit more aggressive with our hands, we could have at least pushed it to five."
 
Queen's moves on to play in the consolation round where they will face UNB at 1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. PT on Saturday. The Varsity Reds lost to UBC 3-0 earlier on Friday in the quarter-finals.

Alberta advances to tomorrow's semifinal game against UBC setting up a rematch of the Canada West semifinal game played two weeks ago, which saw UBC come out ahead 3-1. That match is set for 6:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 p.m. PT at host McMaster University.
 
The two teams were evenly matched throughout, with momentum shifts being the key for Alberta. 
 
The Golden Bears took a 2-0 (25-19, 25-19) advantage by separating themselves at the midpoints in both sets, with four and six-point runs respectively to earn the two-set lead.
 
Down but not out, Queen's rallied in the third with a 25-19 victory of their own. A service run from Jack Peckham saw the Gaels overturn an early deficit and lead 17-14 and that was the spark the OUA silver medalists needed.
 
They responded at 19-17, denying the Golden Bears a straight set sweep by reeling off six of eight points to close out the set, and ending it on a deftly-placed tip from Trence. 
 
A comeback looked to be on for the Gaels, who built out a 10-5 lead in the fourth set and led 18-13, before Alberta went on a 12-5 run to close the game. Down 22-19, Alberta ended on a 6-1 run to send Queen's to the consolation round and set up a rematch of the CanWest semifinals.
 
Players of the Game
 
Alberta: George Hobern
Queen's: Markus Trence