Men’s Volleyball Conclude Outstanding Season in Nail-Biting U SPORTS Semi-Final Consolation Game

(22/03/25) – Brandon, MB., The Reigning OUA Championship victors the Queen’s Gaels fought long and hard in a ruthless 5-set U SPORTS semi-final consolation game against the Winnipeg Wesmen’s. The Gaels won the first two sets (26-24) and (25-23), but were reverse-swept in three sets falling (14-25), (25-27), and (19-21). The Gaels fell in the quarter finals the previous evening to the Saskatchewan Huskies in four sets where no. 17 Reed Venning (Arts and Sciences) drove the game with 14 kills and received player of the match. The Gaels looked to this game to solidify a spot in the race for the 5th place U SPORT finals, although fell in overtime. Venning yet again led the Gaels in kills with 18 on the Wesmen with a .486% accuracy, followed by 17 by the Gaels player of the game no. 7 Zig Licis (Computer Engineering) who had a .260% kill efficiency. 

The 1st set saw Licis find his first kill in the first point of the match which gave the Gaels a solid momentum to begin their extended time on the court. The Gaels pulled away pushing a 6 point lead forcing Wesmen to call a timeout. Licis scored 5 kills in the set while maintaining zero errors on his play, led in blocks, and found the floor on a serve giving the Gaels their first of three service aces. Wesmen climbed back against the Gaels lead and forced the set into overtime where the Gaels took the set 26-24. Wesmen collected 6 errors in the 1st set and the Gaels errored 5. The Gaels had a .303 hitting percentage in the first; double that of Wesmens .147. 

The 2nd set was the beginning of a point-for-point rest of the game with both teams exchanging the lead multiple times. The biggest lead in the 2nd set was that of three points for the Gaels, although concrete blocks by no. 18 Dax Tompkins (Arts), with 7 in the game, gave the Gaels offensive opportunities to take the set 25-23. Licis continued his impressive match with 9 kills in the 2nd, Venning with 8, and no. 19 Alex Brdarevic (Engineering) with 5. The Gaels led the Wesmen in kills 27-19 and blocks 12-11.  Wesmens struggle can be seen in their error count which grew to 14-8 by the end of the 2nd set.

Wesmen was not about to give up and be swept and returned to the court for the 3rd with aggression allowing them to gain the upper-hand on the Gaels.  The strength of Wesmen serves gave the Gaele trouble on their return, and no. 14 Carter Sedgewick (Arts/Commerce) was subbed in for lib.  Wesmen found 10 service aces by the third. Service errors also became the demise of the Gaels battle against Wesmen as they errored 16 in the 3rd and 24 from the line overall. Wesmen still led in errors with 17 to the Gaels 13.  Wesmen’s aggression gave them the power to score 15 kills to the Gaels 5 in the third and ultimately shook the room with their comeback. 

The 4th set saw the Gaels regroup and the entrance of no. 10 Lachlan McBride (Law) who put up an accuracy of .238 and 8 kills through the final sets, adding to the intimidating Gaels at-net attack. Through the fourth the Gaels seemingly could not break a 2-point deficit to Wesmen until they hit a four-point run causing back-to-back Wesmen timeouts at 19-17. The Gaels forced the game into overtime with a late in the set burst of momentum, although fell 27-25. With the game now tied 2-2 going into the 5th set, the Gaels looked to improve their service receiving and allow Wesmen maintain their accumulation of errors as they already had 24 to the Gaels 18. The Gaels hitting percentage was .194 just behind Wesmens .216. 

Tensions at their peak and U SPORT 5th place match on the line, the 5th set was a nail-biting stress inducing battle that in its final minutes seemed like it may never reach a victor.  Taking an early lead after Licis once again opened up scoring, the Gaels trailed by two points for the first half of the set. Capitalizing on kills and and finding the slot through the Wesmen defense, the Gaels made a comeback and sat in set-point position through 5 points ultimately unable to get a second to defeat the Winnipeg Wesmen.  The final score of the 5th and final set was 21-19. Overall, the Gaels scored 56 kills to Wesmens 59 and blocked 22 shots to Wesmens 20. In the end, Wesmens strong abilities at the service line scored them 12 service aces, although accumulated 29 errors to the Gaels’s 21. The game of inches saw no. 11 Chris Zimmerman (Arts) asisst a total of 52 points, ensuring the Gaels stayed point for points in the race to victory with Wesmen. 

Licis had a phenomenal game with 17 kills, 2 aces, 9 digs, 5 blocks, and a .260 accuracy percentage, which awarded him Gaels player of the game.  As the Gaels exciting and determined season comes to a close, they say good-bye to Licis, Tompkins, and McBride, who have all three been a tremendous key to the Gaels success and team spirit through their time in the program. The men’s volleyball now stand as U SPORTS 7th overall team while being the 2025 OUA Champions. Go Gaels Go!