HAMILTON - In a thrilling come from behind victory, the Queen's Gaels successfully defended their title by defeating the Toronto Varsity Blues 3-2 (21-25, 18-25, 25-14, 25-17, 15-10), en route to capturing their second straight Forsyth Cup.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels captured their ninth OUA banner in program history.
Two sets into the game, the result looked in hand for the Blues who raced out to an early 2-0 set lead over the defending champs. Going for 14 more kills and nearly doubling the Gaels points totals with 35 compared to their 18, the team from Toronto looked to have Queen's number.
But things changed fast. The Gaels recorded six of their 11 service aces in the third set alone, two of which came from Player of the Game
Adam Boljkovac.
The Gaels held the Blues to just 14 points in third, and 17 in the fourth, as the momentum shifted drastically in their favour.
With the final set looming, much of the matches dramatics seemed to not phase the Gaels.
Opening the fifth, the No. 2 seed out of the OUA East shocked the Blues with a 4-1 start, as Boljkovac erupted for four straight kills. A pair of errors, and a kill from Toronto's Evan Falardeau tighten the score by one point as the intensity increased.
Falardeau and Boljkovac traded points one more time, as OUA East Player of the Year
Zac Hutcheson interjected himself with a massive kill off a
Zane Grossinger assist.
The result looked imminent after
Dax Tompkins denied the Blues twice to push the score to 13-9. After an attack error from Falardeau, Boljkovac connected on another Grossinger assist to clinch the win.
Joining Boljkovac in Player of the Game honours was Varsity Blues outside hitter Nicholas Terwern.
MUST SEE
FINAL SAY
UP NEXT
The Gaels, Varsity Blues and Marauders will all head to Manitoba for the U SPORTS championship with action kicking off Friday.
