Queen’s Men’s Volleyball secure the 2024-2025 Forsyth Cup Championship with a four-set takedown of the Windsor Lancers (28-26, 25-21, 26-28, 25-16).
The Gaels headed into the match with a 1-1 record against the Lancers in the OUA regular season.
Despite the match being on the Lancers home turf, the Gaels kept their characteristic energy on the court and from the bench.
Queen’s opened up the first set strong with a big kill from OUA First Team All-Star Zig Licis (Computer Engineering).
Licis went on to lead the Gaels in kills, with 22, and in service aces, with three.
The first continued point for point with Chris Zimmerman (Arts) tying it up for the Gaels twice, first with a massive single block and again with a kill at 18-18.
Queen’s outperformed the Lancers on attack through the first set, achieving a attack efficiency of .429 to the Lancers’ .074.
They closed out the first set with their first service ace of the match—from Licis—to take a 1-0 lead over Windsor.
The Gaels struggled slightly on serve received in the second and trailed slightly to the Lancers. Big kills from Nikola Mitrovic (Economics) brought Queen’s back into the front.
Queen’s also contained the Lancer big hitters with blocks from Reed Venning (Arts & Science ) and Dax Tompkins (Arts).
Tompkins led in blocks and secured nine, Venning added another five.
They cleaned up their presence at the service line and decisively took the set 25-21
Queen’s maintained their momentum through the third set and picked up an early four point lead, causing Windsor to call a time out.
While the Lancers slowly chipped away at the lead, Queen’s stayed ahead with kills from Reed Venning (Arts & Science) and Alex Brdarevic (Engineering).
Tobias Jeffries (Engineering) locked down the Gaels on defense and scooped up the majority of Windsor’s serves.
The Lancers successfully pivoted to tools off blocks to claim the lead and after a point for point battle, they forced the fourth set.
In the fourth set the Gaels proved unstoppable. They went on an early nine-point run, served by Zimmerman, to develop a 9-1 lead.
Queen’s maintained a comfortable six point cushion through the duration of the fourth and emerged golden as OUA champions.
With the win, Queen’s Men’s Volleyball bring home the Forsyth Cup for the first time since 2020.
Men’s Volleyball turns their focus towards the USPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship in Brandon, Manitoba on Mar. 21-23. Full bracket and matchup details will be announced in the coming week.