The Queen's Gaels swept the Guelph Gryphons 3-0 on Saturday night in the ARC for their Pride game. As outside hitter Reed Venning (Arts & Science) said in a post-game interview, the team displayed great "resilience" coming off their 3-set loss to the Gryphons last night. Leading the charge on offense tonight for the home team was Venning with 14 kills, 9 digs, and 2 service aces. Setter Chris Zimmerman (Arts) supported the offense with 40 assists and 1 service ace. Alongside their teammates was outside hitter Nikola Mitrovic (Economics) who had a great game with 12 kills, 1 service ace, and 1 solo block.
The game started out tightly matched, with neither team finding a significant lead. Queen's was able to get their offense rolling early after last night's tough three set sweep, with kills coming from five different Gaels, displaying their offensive depth. Similarly to last night, both sides exchanged service errors, as they struggled to settle into their serves. Guelph found a slight 17-14 lead mid-set, resulting in a Gaels timeout to slow the visiting team's momentum. Queen's was able to tie up the score and both sides continued to match each other up to 26-26. Intensity was high as the teams entered extra points in a similar fashion to last night's game. The Gaels fought hard, ultimately coming out on top in a tightly matched opening set, 29-27.
After an intense first set, the Gaels carried their momentum into the second. Queen's quickly established a 6-1 lead, exciting the home crowd. Despite this, Guelph responded shortly after with six unanswered points, tying the game up at 9-9. The second set looked similar to the first, with neither team finding a significant lead. Late in the set, a double block from Venning and Izaak Zabjek (Kinesiology) thrilled the home bench as they tied the score back up at the 21st point. Mitrovic made a huge solo block followed up by a kill, bringing the Gaels to set point. Ben Carr (Arts & Science) was able to narrowly close out the set for the home team, 25-23.
As the Gaels stood one set away from taking the game, the intensity was high in the ARC. The teams kept the score close, each exchanging small point runs. The Gryphons found a slight 20-16 lead, resulting in a Queen's timeout. Returning from the break, Carr made a powerful kill followed up by a service ace, exciting the home crowd. Setter Zimmerman stood tall at the net, earning themselves a kill, and Carr came through with another service ace to tie the score at 20-20. The score remained closely matched, and Mitrovic put up a huge service ace late in the set to bring the score to 25-24 for the Gaels. Queen's earned themselves redemption against the Gryphons as Venning made the final kill to win 26-24.
Up next, the Gaels will face off against the Western Mustangs at 7:30pm on Friday on the road. Queen's earned redemption and improve their record to 9-3 as they move into the second half of their regular season.
