TORONTO, Ont. (February 3rd, 2019) - The Queen's Gaels (12-3) win in a nail biting 5 set away game against the York Lions (5-7). The scores of each set were 25-20, 23-25, 20-25, 25-19 and 15-11.

GAME FLOW

In the first set, the Queen's Gaels and the York Lions played a relatively even game early on, nearly going point for point. The Gaels played a strong defensive game, keeping the Lions from taking a lead. The Gaels fought to find kills from Adam Boljkovac (Edmonton, Alta.) and Zac Hutcheson (Kingston, Ont.) but it was errors on the York end that allowed them to take the lead. Four straight service aces for Queen's allowed them to extend their lead and a kill from Malcolm Prentice (Oakville, Ont.) ended the set with a score of 25-20 for the Gaels.

The Gaels trailed the Lions for much of the second set, after York took 3 aces and two kills on the Gaels early on. The Tricolour fought to close the gap created by the Lions with kills from Boljkovac, Hutcheson and Joel Rudd (Cambridge, Ont.). Unfortunately, the Gaels were unable to overtake the Lions and the set ended with a score of 25-23 for York.

The Gaels were unable to regain their momentum in the third set as the Lions took the lead over Queen's. Kills from Dylan Hunt (Sharon, Ont.), Rudd and Boljkovac allowed the Gaels to tie the set at 12-12 but back-to-back service aces from the Lions gave York the advantage. Queen's struggled to find holes in the York defence and they were unable to overtake the Lions. The set ended on a Queen's serving error and a score of 25-20 for York.

Queen's found their offensive groove again in the fourth set, taking the lead off of kills from Boljkovac and Rudd. Hutcheson contributed three kills to the Gaels lead, further extending their advantage. Aces from Hutcheson and Julian Krygel (Dundas, Ont.) pushed the Gaels lead out of reach from the Lions and Queen's won the set off a kill from Hutcheson, making the score 25-19.

In the fifth and final set, Queen's and York played an extremely close game, going point for point until the set was tied at 8-8. A kill from Hutcheson and two attack errors from the Lions gave the Gaels a three point advantage in the second half of the set. Another kill from Hutcheson and a kill from Rudd maintained the Gaels lead and a service ace from Mitchell Neuert (Toronto, Ont.) ended the set and the game with a score of 15-11 for Queen's.

BY THE NUMBERS

1 - Queen's holds onto the top spot in the OUA East

7 - blocks from the Gaels against York

22 - kills from Zac Hutcheson

UP NEXT

The Queen's Gaels will return to Kingston to take on their cross town rival RMC Paladins (1-14) at RMC on February 8th at 8pm.