Domination was the focal point for the Queen’s Men’s and Women’s Volleyball teams last weekend when they competed against the McMaster Marauders.
Women’s Game
After winning the night before, the Women’s team got off to a slow start on Saturday evening when they conceded the first four points of the game.
Down 18-13 in the first set, the Gaels saw an opportunity to call a timeout, recompose the girls, and mount a comeback. Unfortunately, the timeout came too late, and the Marauders closed out the set with a score of 25-18.
Starting the second match drastically better than the first, the Gaels were able to work towards building their lead, contrasting their performance in the first match.
Gaels Outside Hannah Duchesneau, ArtSci ’24, was a force to be reckoned with throughout this set, making several defensive blocks and firing home multiple stunning spikes.
Middle Lauren Mellon, ArtSci ’24, also made a dominant impact on the Gaels’ success throughout the second match, making several defensive stops early in the match to snuff out any momentum the Marauders tried to carry over from their first match.
The Gaels squeezed out a victory in the second set with a score of 25-20, relying heavily on Duchesneau to do so.
The third set provided a different look than either team had been used to, with the Gaels maintaining a one to two-point lead throughout. Their composure proved to be the difference, only mounting a five-point lead for their final five points of the set. The score was 25-20 and the Gaels were now up two sets to one.
The Gaels lost no momentum going into the fourth set, defeating the Marauders by a decisive score of 25-12, securing their fifth straight win and seventh home win of the season.
The Women’s team gets back on the court on Feb. 2, where they’ll travel to Lakehead University to compete against the Thunderwolves.
Men’s Game
McMaster’s Men’s team sought revenge when they hit the court at 8 p.m. after losing to Queen’s in a 3-0 sweep the night before.
The first set was close, with the Gaels and Marauders going back and forth until McMaster capitalized on a couple of attack errors and several botched serves, allowing them to create a lead. McMaster secured a 25-14 first set victory.
Throughout the second set, the Gaels fought an uphill battle, fighting to diminish McMaster’s five-point lead.
After forcing their way back to 24-23, a service error gave the Marauders a two-set lead going into the third, threatening the first home loss for the Gaels this season.
The third set was perhaps the worst for the Gaels, falling behind 18-9, failing to claw their way back after a timeout and subsequently dropping the third set 25-19. Queen’s Men’s volleyball had their first home loss of the season.
Although a drastically different result than the previous night, Head Coach Gabriel deGroot said the Gaels’ process-driven mindset has them focused on stringing together wins from three remaining opponents as they prepare to host the U SPORTS Men’s National Volleyball Championships.
“All that really matters is can we string together three tough opponent wins together for a quarterfinal, semi-final, and final at Nationals. If we can do those three nights in a row, then this doesn’t matter.”
The Men’s team returns to action on Feb. 2, where they’ll meet the Lakers in Nipissing, their sixth last regular season game before playoffs begin on Feb. 24.
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