The Men’s Volleyball team won their first Forsyth Cup since 2020, beating the Windsor Lancers three sets to one on March 7.
With an OUA championship under their belt, the Gaels secured their spot in the U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship and will head to Manitoba, where they’ll face the Saskatchewan Huskies in the first round on March 21.
Reflecting on the game, Head Coach Gabe deGroot credited his team’s composure and preparation against a familiar opponent.
“It was good to know Windsor had the potential to beat us and that we had to be our best to win this match,” deGroot said in an interview with The Journal.
The Gaels split their regular season meeting with the Lancers 1-1, but deGroot emphasized that his team had evolved since their last matchups back in November. The team focused on setter distribution and defensive adjustments, ensuring they wouldn’t allow the Lancers to repeat their previous victory.
“Those [regular season games] give us strategic opportunities to make adjustments, tactical advantages that we can maybe key on from the previous time we played them,” he said. “But I think ultimately when we played them in the fall, we hadn’t executed as high a level as we are now.”
The first set of the championship game was extremely close, with Queen’s ultimately edging out the Lancers 28-26. This was largely due to a few late kills from OUA Athlete of the Week, Zig Licis, Sci ’25.
From there, deGroot felt the Gaels were in control.
“Once we broke [through] the first set and got the lead, I think it felt like we were in pretty good control and from there on it was just a matter of staying the course and staying level headed,” he said. “By the fourth set, I think we were well in control of the match and I think just waited for the opportunity to celebrate the victory by the end.”
The Gaels won the second set more decisively, 25-21 before dropping the third in a tight 26-28 contest. However, they rebounded well, making much-needed adjustments and authoritatively closing out the fourth set 25-16 to seal the championship win.
For most of the players on the team, the Forsyth Cup represents their first gold medal on the OUA stage, but deGroot emphasized they’re no strangers to high-stakes matches.
“This group played in a U SPORTS quarterfinal and a semifinal bronze medal match here last year with a packed house, full crowd, high energy. We were in an OUA final finishing silver last year against McMaster, so these types of moments aren’t new for our group,” he said.
With their sights set on a U SPORTS medal, the Gaels will prepare to take on the Huskies, who finished fourth in the Canada West division with a 14-6 record.
deGroot, along with the rest of the Men’s Volleyball team, is taking each game as it comes, not getting ahead of themselves while remaining confident.
“There’s a deep-rooted belief in this team,” he said. “To have success at a national championship takes time—that’s not something you just have one year, one-off success, so going back to what I’ve said before, I think this is about building off the experience we’ve had before.”
He also acknowledged the challenge ahead, as the OUA hasn’t won a U SPORT Championship since 1968, when the Ottawa Gee-Gees beat the Manitoba Bison 2-0 in Guelph, Ont.
“For our group, that’s like climbing Mount Everest, it’s a task that’s seemingly insurmountable, but we’re up for it.”
To make it over the U SPORTS mountain, the Gaels will need to overcome multiple Canada West teams. While the road ahead is tough, deGroot and his squad are confident in their ability to shine under the bright national spotlight on March 21.
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