KINGSTON, Ont. (February 29, 2020) - The No.6 Queen's Gaels stepped onto their home court Saturday evening and took home a straight sets victory in the OUA quarter-final against the No.10 Windsor Lancers 3-0.
GAME FLOW
Gaels fans filled the stands in the ARC Main Gym this Saturday evening. Double aces off
Zane Grossinger got the home court audience out of their seats early in the match and the crowd were standing from there on. The Gaels had Windsor scrambling from the beginning.
Zac Hutcheson, as always, was not easy to miss on the court. Perfectly aligned sets from Grossinger gave Hutcheson opportunity to do what he does best; lay down the attack. Hutcheson completed a match total of 12 kills, three aces and four digs. Prefacing his serve,
Adam Boljkovac laid a kill that erupted the stands. The stands provided home-court energy that propelled the Gaels throughout this OUA quarter-final opening set. Queen's took the first set 25-23.
Boljkovac continued to lay down the unreturnable attacks in the second. The Gaels showed persistence on their offence, with the athleticism of the front row seeming to be everywhere at once, the Lancers simply could not keep up. An ace off
Erik Siksna only added to the dynamic energy that characterized the entirety of the match for the Gaels. A mid-set tie up provided some aversion for the Gaels. However, Hutcheson's spin serves created a three-point margin that the Gaels maintained throughout the remainder of the second set. Gorssinger with the tip, continued to give the Lancers defence the run around. Queen's continued to extend their lead, holding onto the second set 25-20.
The third set saw a point-for-point struggle that the Gaels defence was not expecting. At the technical time-out the Lancers held the lead by a single point. A rally off the Lancers serve was concluded by a kill from Siksna that tied things up. Siksna completed a match total of seven kills, two aces and three digs. With the Lancers gaining momentum, things were kept close in the final moments of the third set. But ultimately, the Gaels ability to stay consistent on attacks gave them the winning edge, taking the third set 25-21.
MUST SEE
BY THE NUMBERS
12-kills for
Adam Boljkovac
7-digs for
Lukas Kaufman
32-assists for Zane Grossigner
FROM THE COACH
Head Coach
Gabriel deGroot glowed post-match with the accomplishment of his team. Mentioning in particular, that "Zac [Hutcheson] provided offence that we've never seen before", with Hutcheson's ability to recycle off the blocks giving the Gaels the opportunity to turn over the Lancers attacks. When asked about the electric energy that ARC Main Gym saw, Coach deGroot was quoted saying "This kind of energy is always fun, but this team has the ability to feed off any energy, and use it to their advantage".
UP NEXT
The Gaels will travel to Hamilton next weekend for the OUA Final Four. Queen's will take on the host McMaster Marauders in the first semifinal while Guelph will battle Toronto in the second semifinal. Stay tuned to OUA.ca for full details.
