BLUES DEFEAT RAMS IN QUARTERFINAL

The Blues will host the Queen’s Gaels at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport on Wednesday, March 16 at 8:00 p.m. The winner of that matchup will play in the OUA final on Saturday (Mar. 19). Both participants in the OUA final plus the winner of the OUA bronze medal match will qualify for the U SPORTS championship hosted by the University of Manitoba on Mar. 25 – 27.

“It was really fun. It was so nice to have alumni come out and support us,” said setter Zane Grossinger. “It’s always fun to go to the back line and see some old familiar faces including people who I had the opportunity to face off against (while as a setter for Queen’s). I know our alumni and fans mean the world to us, so getting a big win at home in front of them was an awesome feeling.”

TORONTO STATS: The Blues had three players in double-digit kills as the balanced attack put the Blues over the Rams.

Evan Falardeau, a third-year left side had 17 kills and two solo blocks to lead Toronto. A returning Mitchell Neuert added 14 kills and one service ace in his Blues playoff debut, while rookie Hunter Arulpragasm played his first OUA playoff game, finishing with 10 kills, one service ace and 1.5 blocks.

Fifth-year middle Jakson Paterson provided a strong presence at the net with 5.5 blocks, leading all players in the match.

Veteran libero Daniel Tudor had nine digs, while Neuert led all Blues with 10. Setter Zane Grossinger had 43 assists and nine digs in the victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED: The Rams brought the energy both on and off the court in the first set as there was a sizeable crowd cheering them on. The early part of the set was even with no team gaining much of an advantage. An ace from Alex King would give the Rams a 13-11 lead. Zane Grossinger’s ace would cause the Rams coach Niko Rukavina to call a timeout with the Blues up 18-17. A hitting error from Falardeau would give the Rams the 20-18 advantage and a Toronto timeout.

Coach John Barrett had to call another one at 22-19, with his team responding well as Jakson Paterson would make a timely block to make it 23-23. It was not enough as the Rams would rattle off two points including an Omari Young rejection to take the set 25-23.

The second set was similar to the first, with both teams battling back and forth and neither team gaining more than a two-point advantage until the Blues took the 15-12 lead. The Blues momentum would cause the Rams to call a timeout at 20-17. This strategy from Rukavina would pay off as the Rams would go on a 4-1 run, causing Toronto to call a timeout of their own.  Toronto would then score two straight making it 23-20 and would ultimately take the second set off of back-to-back kills from Neuert.

In the third, Toronto would hold three-point advantages throughout the first part of the frame but the Rams would surge back causing a Toronto timeout at 10-10. The timeout was to no avail as the Rams would score two more to make it 12-10 off of two Kai Higuchi kills. Falardeau’s two straight kills would get the Blues to the technical timeout at 16-15. A 19-17 lead for the Rams would cause the Blues to call another timeout, hoping to stop the Rams attack. The Blues attack would cause the Rams to call timeouts down 20-19 and at 22-19. Paterson’s block sealed the 25-19 third set for the Blues.

An 8-4 lead would cause the Rams to call an early fourth-set timeout. The Rams contingent helped spur the comeback pushing the lead down to 10-8 and eventually 11-11, forcing a Toronto timeout. The Blues would surge to the tech timeout at 16-13 before causing the Rams to call their second and last timeout at 18-13. Falardeau’s 17^th kill would give the Blues a 22-17 lead. They would not look back and take the fourth set 25-19.

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