Despite a guaranteed spot in the U SPORTS National Championship tournament last weekend, it was a bittersweet weekend for Gaels fans. The Queen’s Men’s Volleyball team failed to clinch a slot in the gold medal game after being eliminated in the bronze medal game by the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds.
The Gaels started the tournament strong after taking a five-setquarterfinal win on March 14 against the Trinity Western Spartans, pushing them into the semi-finals.
Semi-finals
As hosts, the Queen’s Gaels took on the number-one-seeded Sherbrooke Vert et Or for their semi-final game of the U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championships on March 15. The Gaels were seeded fifth.
To start the game, the Gaels made numerous service and attack errors, contributing to an early lead for Sherbrooke.
“Their side of the net was probably some of the most efficient volleyball I’ve maybe ever seen. They’re undefeated for a reason,” Queen’s Head Coach Gabriel deGroot said following the game. “I think we got the best version of them tonight, unfortunately. I think we just didn’t quite have the emotional energy to sustain being in a fight.”
Nerves seemed to be getting the better of the Gaels, and Sherbrooke closed out the first set 25-19.
MVP of the Gaels’ quarterfinal game, Erik Siksna, Comm ’24, and Reed Venning, ArtSci ’26, were two of Queen’s main point contributors, with Chris Zimmerman, ArtSci ’27, on the set-up.
READ MORE: Gaels stifle Spartans in U SPORTS volleyball quarterfinals
The second set saw a similar outcome. Despite efforts from Venning, Siksna, and Zimmerman leading the team once again, the Gaels fell short 25-17. Sherbrooke was now up 2-0, leaving the Gaels in a must-win situation for the rest of the game.
The third set was closer, and towards the end of the game the score was as close as 21-20, in favour of Sherbrooke.
Despite hope from the Gaels and their fans that filled the ARC, Sherbrooke took the third set 25-21, advancing to the finals and leaving the Gaels behind.
“The fact that we still didn’t give up—as much as they were just super efficient and making it tough on us constantly, I think the guys still held belief even though the job was too difficult for us,” deGroot said.
Zimmerman, with 33 assists, was named MVP of the game for Queen’s. Siksna and Venning tied for kills with 13 each.
Bronze Medal Game
The Gaels drew a crowd in the ARC on St. Patrick’s Day when they faced off against the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds in the bronze medal game.
Both teams had a day of rest between their semi-final games on Friday and this game on Sunday, fans expected high energy on the court.
The teams went point-for-point for much of the first set, with neither the Gaels nor UBC seeing more than a two-point lead until the score was 20-17 for UBC.
Service errors provided several points for both teams, with the first set seeing 17 service errors.
Siksna had five service aces, three back-to-back.
In the end, UBC saw victory in the first set, winning 29-27.
The second set wasn’t as close as the first, with the Gaels down 24-16 near the end of the set. With only one point needed for UBC to take the set, the Gaels took off of an eight-point run, with Siksna at the forefront of the comeback. The score tied at 24-24.
Despite the excitement in the crowd, on the court, and behind the Gaels bench, UBC shut down the Gaels and won the set 26-24.
UBC was up 2-0, and for the third time this tournament, the Gaels were in a must-win scenario.
The Gaels turned around their luck in set three.
Zig Licis, Sci ’24, generated four kills before facing an injury mid-set. Licis came back a couple plays later and added another kill immediately upon return.
The Gaels went on to win the third set 27-25.
With newfound motivation following the Gaels’ third-set win, both teams were desperate for a win in the fourth set.
The teams interchanged leads throughout the start of the set before UBC fell into a steady lead halfway through.
Much to the Gaels’ disappointment, UBC took the fourth set 25-17 and captured the bronze medal. Queen’s placed fourth.
Dax Tompkins, ArtSci ’24, saw his best of the tournament with 10 kills. Siksna was awarded MVP of the game with 12 kills and 10 aces.
Having signed with a volleyball team in Belgium, deGroot said Siksna may be one of the best volleyball players to come out of Canada.
“Erik’s career’s just started. I’m proud to have been just a little piece of it, but I’m super excited to see him represent Queen’s,” he said.
The fourth-place finish ties the Queen’s Men’s Volleyball program previous best, which was set in 2012 when the Gaels last hosted the U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship. They lost 3-1 to the University of Manitoba Bisons that year.
Following a post-game locker room debrief with his team, deGroot shared his thoughts on what this team accomplished this year.
“We just debriefed as a group there for the last 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted to hold on to a moment for longer because what we have in this group is truly special. They love each other. It’s hard to build that in a team.”
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