Bryan Fautley
Men’s Volleyball
Fourth-year setter Bryan Fautley led the Gaels last weekend as they beat the Guelph Gryphons 3-2 and nearly overcame the McMaster Marauders in a close 3-2 match. Fautley was a force on the court, ending the weekend with totals of 36 kills and 14 digs.
“I was pretty happy with some of my defence in the back court,” Fautley said. “Offensively, I had a pretty good weekend.”
Fautley, eager to improve, said he’s also thinking about the 12 serve errors that he committed.
“I had a pretty bad serving weekend,” he said.
Overall, Fautley guided the team well considering he was the Gaels’ lone veteran with three of the team’s other fourth-years injured.
“We performed very well given the conditions that we were in,” he said. “Everybody really stepped up their game and got a great win against Guelph and really competed against [McMaster] and I think we had it at some points.”
Right now, Fautley said he’s focused on finishing the first half of the season strong.
The Gaels face the Western Mustangs, the only team ahead of the Gaels in the OUA, and the Windsor Lancers this weekend.
“We have our biggest game right before the break,” he said. “We focus day-by-day, week-by-week, match-by-match, how we’ve been taught to take the season.”
With Queen’s hosting the 2012 CIS championship, Fautley said the veteran Gaels are planning to participate.
“The plan right now is all five of us that are in fourth-year are going to return for a fifth year, when we’re hosting nationals,” he said. “Basically, we’ve all been playing together for four years or more at this point. By our fifth year, we have each other’s patterns down … Hopefully, that works this season as well and next season, we can carry it over.”
— Benjamin Deans
Morgan McHaffie
Women’s Hockey
After a second place OUA finish last year, a slow start to the 2010-11 season for the women’s hockey team was unexpected. A five-game losing streak left the Gaels frustrated, but a win against the Waterloo Warriors broke their slump. Second-year forward Morgan McHaffie scored the game winner Friday night for her second goal of the night.
“It was kind of a turnaround weekend for us,” she said. “Although we lost to Laurier on Saturday, it was just different, we had a different atmosphere … We came out hard. I think that was the biggest thing.”
McHaffie, who was on a line with her sister, Brittany, and Kelsey Thomson, said the team tried different lineups this weekend to spark some change.
“We needed a fresh start to try to get something going,” she said. “We started with a different line. I think a lot of it had to with [my linemates]. They set me up … and it just found the back of the net. It was almost a relief to get those goals and get that win … It was very frustrating but to get back on track like that, it was a big boost for our team.”
McHaffie, who started her Gaels career as a highly-touted prospect, said her first year was spent learning from the veterans on the team and building up confidence.
“I guess just going into second year, you have a little bit more confidence with yourself,” she said. “Going into first-year, your confidence is a little low and you build it up. I felt I had earned my role last year, this year I just hopefully step above that.”
— Kate Bascom
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