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gaels celebrate
Jason Scourse
1
Toronto Blues MTOR 12-7
3
Winner Queen's Gaels MQUE 16-2
Toronto Blues MTOR
12-7
1
Final
3
Queen's Gaels MQUE
16-2
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Toronto Blues MTOR 21 20 26 20 (1)
Queen's Gaels MQUE 25 25 24 25 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball (M) | | Shawn MacDonald (Sports Information Officer)

Gaels advance to OUA Forsyth Cup Final with 3-1 victory over Varsity Blues

KINGSTON, Ont. (March 9, 2019) - The top-seed in the OUA East Queen's Gaels defeated the third-seed in the East Toronto Varsity Blues in semifinal two of the Forsyth Cup championship from the Queen's Athletics and Recreation Centre in Kingston in front of 1,345 fans.

The Gaels now advance to the gold medal match on Sunday at 3 pm against the top-seed in the West the McMaster Marauders while Toronto will meet the Windsor Lancers for bronze at 1 pm. Queen's will look to stop the Marauder streak of championships from reaching seven straight wins and claim their first banner since 2012. The Gaels were quick to use the energy from a nearly sold-out crowd to propel them to an early lead getting ahead 7-5 and running their lead through to the technical timeout at 16-14. Queen's OUA East first-team All-Star setter Zane Grossinger served up a pair of aces in the opening set including one to put Queen's ahead 24-20. From there, Grossinger fed on Joel Rudd who closed out the set by painting the line with a kill from the left side 25-21.

Queen's picked up where they left off, surging past early resistance from Toronto to go ahead 11-8 on an ace from second-team All-Star Dylan Hunt. Evan Falardeau tried to keep his team in it, bringing Toronto back within two at 17-15. Zach Hutcheson responded for the Gaels, who put it in cruise control to win the set 25-20.

The Gaels took the early lead in the third set, as the Varsity Blues were fighting for their lives. Toronto was down 16-11 before exploded out of the technical timeout to erase the Queen's lead. Chris Towe notched one of his game-high 17 kills to bring the Varsity Blues within one at 16-15. The teams traded points at the ARC all the way to 23-23 off an ace from Toronto's Alex Barnes. The Varsity Blues overcome a Gaels match point to win 26-24 and extend the match to a fourth set.

After Queen's took an early lead, Toronto brought the game level at 9-9 on a stellar block. The Gaels, looking to punch their ticket to the OUA final and earn a spot at the U SPORTS Championship, gained a 16-14 lead heading into the technical timeout. As the Tricolour ramped up their play on the court, the energetic crowd roared for every big play. A lengthy rally, complete with multiple diving digs from the Gaels, put Queen's on the home-stretch up 21-16. A Toronto missed serve sealed the win for the Gaels.

FINAL SAY
"Another match where we came out very strong, the first two sets were awesome. They pushed back in the third and we've struggled with that this year, we let that one slip away. There was some determination in that fourth set to get it done. The serving run by Zac was incredible, that really pushed us ahead, gave us that lead and we were able to stick with it and keep building.

We're going to come up with a great plan. We've been looking at them all year and actually for years. Another shot at them on home court, I think we got a really good shot and we're going to give them everything we have.

It's electric. My heart is still pounding. It gets us through some big moments but it also lifts us up. When those big points happen there's an energy in here I've never felt." - Queen's head coach Gabriel deGroot. UP NEXT
The Gaels will now advance to the Forsyth Cup championship final on Sunday at 3 pm where they will meet the McMaster Marauders and look to claim their first OUA Forsyth Cup title since 2012. For the Varsity Blues, they will meet the Windsor Lancers for bronze Sunday at 1 pm. For tickets head to www.gogaelsgo.com/tickets or watch the games live on OUA.tv.
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