In their opening match of the U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship, the Queen’s Gaels took on the Trinity Western Spartans—the Gaels emerged victorious in five (17-25, 25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 16-14).
Queen’s was propelled to the win by the electric crowd that “packed the ARC.”
“We rode the wave of this crowd and the energy that they gave us. We knew we were going to need a little bit of magic to get past a titan of a team and I think the crowd was probably what gave the team a little bit of extra juice to get the job done,” Head Coach Gabe deGroot said.
The win marked a monumental moment for the team – this is the second time that the Gaels have ever advanced past a U SPORTS Championship quarterfinal.
“It’s something that Queen’s has only done once in history so to do that again has been a long-time goal of ours so its super exciting, can’t overstate that. We’ve been looking forward to this game for a long time. We saw it coming and knew what we had to do,” Erik Siksna remarked.
After dropping the first set 17-25, the Gaels rallied together and took the second and third, cinching the win in the fifth set.
Despite a slow start in the first, Queen’s improved both their offensive and defensive presence at the net through the second.
Reed Venning played an important role in changing the tides for the Gaels putting up 16.5 points and 14 kills. Venning also went for a service run picking up two service aces.
“Reed Venning really went after it. I think he just took the opportunity to swing as high and as hard as he could,” deGroot said.
Gallery: (3-14-2024) U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball quarterfinals
Using the momentum that they developed in the second, the Gaels dominated through the third, picking up a six-point lead, and taking the set 25-20.
The Spartans however refused to go down without a fight, clawing back and bagging the fourth set 25-20, forcing a fifth.
In the fifth the Gaels dug deep and pulled out a 15-13 win, bringing the crowd to their feet.
“Its always nice to be at home. The crowd was awesome, it always provides so it was really nice to be in this atmosphere. The crowd killed it tonight so love that, can’t ask for more,” Venning added.
First team All-Canadian Erik Siksna led the team offensively with 24 points from 21 kills, two blocks and one service ace. The outside hitter received MVP for his efforts in the game.
Zig Lucis, OUA First team All-Star, contributed heavily to the Gaels success, accruing 10 kills and one service ace.
With the win, the Gaels head to Friday’s semifinals where they will face the winner of the Guelph-Sherbrooke match up. Tickets are available through the U SPORTS Championship page.
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