Lancers drop two to Queen’s in Kingston

In their second road trip to Kingston within a week, the Lancer women’s volleyball team fell victim to the host Queen’s Gaels in a weekend doubleheader.
 
Windsor dropped a 3-0 decision to the Gaels on Friday evening who swept the visiting blue and gold by scores of 25-14, 25-17, and 25-11 at the Queen’s ARC. The visitors played a tougher game on Saturday, but still fell in three straight sets 3-0 (18-25, 22-25, 22-25).
 
The Lancers now fall to 7-6 on the season while Queen’s improves to 8-4 on the year. 
 
FRIDAY
Aryn Markett and Emma Shepherd led the way offensively for the Lancers with 5 kills each while Aliah Admans had 4 kills of her own.  Nicole Woelk had 16 assists and a notable service ace in the tough loss.  Defensively, Admans led the resistance and dug up 11 balls while libero Anna Scarfe had 6 of her own as the team’s designated defensive specialist. 
 
The Gaels were led and spread equally on offence by Lauren Mellon, Amanda Siksna, and Aimee Lemire who all contributed 7 kills each combining for 21 kills in the victory over the Lancers. Arielle Palermo also pitched in with 4 service aces against the blue and gold as well.
 
In the opening set, the Lancers were able to strike first scoring the first point of the game which was great start after making another arduous trek to Kingston for a second straight weekend to kick off their first two weeks of their second half of the season action. 
 
However, the Gaels would regain their composure early on after being rattled by the blue and gold to kick into gear strong offensive and defensive play that proved to be a real challenge for the Lancers to overcome. Windsor used their first timeout early at 7-3 and it seemed after that the Gaels found their way to hold the lead throughout the set coasting to a 25-14 first set win to go up 1-0 in the contest.
 
In the second set, both teams would trade points early in the frame at one point were knotted up at 4-4 until the Gaels began ramping up their offence emulating their strong play of the first set while the Lancers tried to stay on par with them. The tri-colour team managed to produce solid offence down the stretch until there were glimmers of hope for the visitors who racked up some late points to try and tie the match at one set apiece. But it was not meant to be as the Gaels were able to ride off their thunderous crowd’s support and sway the momentum back in their favour to grab the second set by a score of 25-17 and go up 2-0 in the match.
 
The third set proved to be a tough test for the Lancers as the Gaels came out with the brooms in hand eyeing a sweep. The Gaels held firm control throughout the set not allowing the Lancers to bounce back at any point despite a few strong rallies from the blue and gold. It was a tough bout for the Lancers who struggled to accumulate points against a strong Gaels squad.  However, in the end, Queen’s was able to put the lid on the match and close out with a dominant 25-11 victory over Windsor to defend their home court.
 
SATURDAY
The Gaels came out quick and scored five unanswered points before the Lancers got on the board. However, unlike on Friday, the Lancers chipped away at the score and kept themselves in the game throughout all three sets.  
 
Aliah Admans led the offence for the blue and gold with 8.5 points on 6 kills, and 11 digs. Emma Shepherd was next with seven points and six kills.
 
UP NEXT
Windsor returns home for a weekend doubleheader against the Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday and Saturday at the Toldo Lancer Centre. Game and ticket information can be found at goLancers.ca and the games can also be viewed live at oua.tv.