Queen’s Men’s Volleyball completed their weekend double header against the Western Mustangs with a three-set sweep on Saturday evening (25-21, 25-17, 25-20)
Prior to the game, the Gaels honoured graduating seniors Dax Tompkins (Arts), Zig Licis (Computer Engineering), and Lachlan McBride (Law) for their contributions to the program.
“I think the fun part about this group of graduating athletes is that it’s my first recruiting class as Head Coach. So, for me it’s a proud moment. For me it’s a chance to see the process and the growth that they’ve had over the years,” Head Coach Gabe deGroot said.
“All three of them are guys that bought into a culture and an attitude of championship success that we want to create here. As a result, they are the ones that are leaving the legacy to the next generation of guys that are coming up,” deGroot added.
Licis and McBride also had stand out performances during the match. McBride secured 11 kills for the Gael and Licis bagged another eight.
“I think having a family behind you to support you through all the ups and downs and to be able to go out and play free with all of them is a blessing,” McBride remarked.
The first set went point for point with both teams maintaining an aggressive offensive presence. Queen’s pulled ahead with kills from Reed Venning (Arts & Science) and Izaak Zabjek (Kinesiology) and went on to take the set.
Through the second, the Gaels built up to play at their highest level. Setter Chris Zimmerman (Arts) ran the offense smoothly, allowing Licis, McBride, and Venning to rack up kills.
“I think tonight it was Chris’ setting. He was setting a ball in a way that it was hitter determined it was not a setter trying to make a choice and put the hitter in a certain situation, it was just letting the hitter do the work,” deGroot said.
Queen’s took off at the sevenpoint mark, building a consistent eight point lead over the Mustangs and taking home the set.
The Gaels kept up their momentum and tidily took their fourth straight set win of the season.
“We’re way more physical than that team and when we release the ball and let them go up at 12 feet then the attacker can make the decision and put the ball away,” deGroot remarked.
Collectively, the Gaels achieve an attack efficiency of 0.400. Alex Brdarevic (Engineering) led in efficiency with 0.800.
“We’ve been working hard all year and sometimes the results aren’t there, but we trust in our coaching staff and all the players that we have so that if we continue pushing that by the end of the year well see some really good results,” McBride said.
The Gaels take on the McMaster Marauders on Friday, Feb. 7, at 6pm in Hamilton. Fans can catch the action on oua.tv.
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