Queen’s Men’s Volleyball advances to the OUA semifinals after taking down the Guelph Gryphons in four sets in their OUA quarterfinal matchup (25-22, 20-25, 29-27, 25-21)
In the win, Zig Licis (Computer Engineering) put up 21 points for the Gaels; Reed Venning (Arts & Science) added another 16.
The Gryphons bagged the first three point of the first, however the Gaels closed the gap with three of their own.
Queen’s pulled into the lead with back-to-back service aces from Licis and went on to take the set.
Throughout the match, the Gaels kept an aggressive presence at the service line. They closed out the game with seven service aces—three of which were from Licis.
In the second, the Gryphons pulled ahead as errors on the Gaels’ side of the net held them back.
“They’re going to have their ups and we’re going to have our downs and it’s important to know that the pendulum swings back and forth,” Setter Chris Zimmerman (Arts) remarked.
In the third, Guelph picked up an early six point lead that Queen’s fought to chip away at.
At the 21-14-point mark, Alex Brdarevic (Engineering) stepped up to the service line for the Gaels and proceeded to take the team on an electric nine-point run.
“What a game he had. He got digs when he needed to get digs to keep rallies alive. He got blocks when the team needed to get blocks. To be honest I think he’s just been playing on such an upswing for the last moth or two,” Head Coach Gabe deGroot commented.
“We had some big momentum points that made huge difference, and I think that those points make those runs even better,” Zimmerman added.
The Gaels tied up the game at 21 and went on to take the set in extra points with a final kill from Brdarevic.
Queen’s rode the wave into the fourth set, push forwards by enthusiasm from the bench and secured a spot in the OUA semifinal.
“They influence us so much and we try to give it back to them. It’s so important for us to feel that support from them,” Zimmerman reflected.
The Gaels return to postseason play on Friday, Feb. 28 where they will take on the Western Mustangs. Fans can catch the action live in the ARC or online on oua.tv.
“I hope we can just transfer a little bit of what we took out of this week and just roll right into next week and focus on playing with the same intent,” deGroot said