The Gaels tamed the York Lions this past weekend on the volleyball court with an at-home double header on Jan. 19 and 20.
Women’s Volleyball builds their win streak
Woman’s Volleyball faced off against the York Lions twice this weekend—emerging victorious both times.
The Gaels took Friday’s game in straight sets. They had a dominant performance with the Lions falling 25-17, 25-19, and 25-12.
Hannah Duchesneau, ArtSci ’24, amassed 12 kills for the Gaels. Mary Stewart, ConEd ’25, added another 11 kills and 2 aces.
In Saturday’s game, York fought back, forcing Queen’s to four sets to secure the Gaels’ victory.
The first set went point-for-point until the Gaels pulled ahead, aided by consistent serves from Lauren Mellon, ArtSci ’24, who went on to secure three service aces for Queen’s.
The Gaels bagged the first set with a resounding 25-18 victory.
The second set opened with a long run of points for the Lions. Kills from Amanda Siksna, ConEd ’25, Duchesneau, and Stewart—paired with several errors from the Lions—brought the Gaels back into the game and lead to a 25-18 win.
The third set was a marathon, with neither team able to develop a consistent lead. In the end it was the Lions who pulled off the victory, taking the set 25-23.
Heading into the fourth set, it was evident Queen’s wanted to finish it there.
Despite a slow start, the Gaels found their grove, finding kills from all over the court.
“In the fourth set I think we were playing a little bit scared because they came back at us in the third. We broke down the game into smaller little pieces and really pushed to be dominant to try to stay on top,” Stewart said in a post-game interview with The Journal.
The Gaels took the fourth set 25-19 and clinched the win. With the weekend’s victories, their season record improves to 10-2.
Saturday’s game marked an important milestone for setter Shea Baker, ArtSci ’24, who achieved 1,000 career assists.
“It’s so exciting. It’s been so fun this year, working with all the girls. I knew the milestone was coming up and so honestly, just going to celebrate it. It’s my last year and it’s a great achievement,” Baker said.
Looking forward to next weekend, the Gaels take on the McMaster Marauders, who are ranked second in the OUA. Queen’s is currently ranked third.
“Definitely for us as coaches we’ll really be dialed in and watching a lot of video, picking up on a lot of their tendencies. The most important thing will be to really focus on ourselves to get our best performance,” Head Coach Ryan Ratushniak said.
“We’re just so excited, nothing really changes with our mindset. We know how good we are, we know our potential,” Stewart added.
Men’s Volleyball stays clean at home
Men’s Volleyball swept York, failing to drop a set the entire weekend. The win keeps the Gaels’ at-home record clean for the regular season. The Gaels took the game 25-20, 25-23, and 25-17.
The victory marks the first time the teams have played each other since last year’s OUA playoffs, where the Gaels lost in four sets.
Friday’s game had dominant performances from Zig Licis, Sci ’24, and Eric Siksna, Comm ’24, who nabbed seven kills each.
Dax Tompkins, ArtSci ’24, played a key role in the team’s victory with three blocks and three service aces.
In the first set the Lions started out hot, leading 15-8. A well-called timeout by Head Coach Gabriel deGroot followed by a service ace from Chris Zimmerman, ArtSci ’27, changed the tides.
“Overall, I think we just showed a lot of resilience. I think we went down in almost every set which obviously isn’t ideal to start off, but slowly and surely we made it back and just kept serving aggressively,” Siksna said in a post-game interview with The Journal.
Queen’s found their stride in the second set, leading the entire time. With seven additional kills from Siksna, the Gaels found the win.
The third set started off slowly for the Gaels, with many attacks from the Lions left unanswered.
Tensions heightened as the Lions pulled ahead 16-10 as many calls for the referees went in their favour.
“We showed good resilience, obviously maybe want to work on not getting down and starting down like that in sets,” Siksna said.
For the Gaels, the win marks a change in fortune as they come off a three-game losing streak.
“I think we got our presence back. We played the game emotionally like we need to and a lot of that starts at the service line. When we’re staying aggressive on our serves then good things happen and I think the guy’s kind of rally around that,” deGroot said.
Heading into next weekend, the Men’s Volleyball team prepares to face the nationally ranked McMaster Marauders at home.
“Mac’s an exciting one. Mac’s a fun one. You have two programs that have won the OUA championships for the past 14 years probably,” deGroot said.
“I think that Queen’s and Mac volleyball have developed a bit of a rivalry over the past however many years, so I think that it will be a great environment. Two of the best teams in the country going at it and I think it will be a great match,” Siksna added.
Queen’s Women’s and Men’s Volleyball host the Marauders on Jan. 26 and 27 at 6 and 8 p.m. respectively. Tickets are available on gogaelsgo.com.
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