It was a tough weekend for the Gaels’ volleyball teams on their road trip to Guelph and Hamilton. The men’s team opened with a 16-25, 25-21, 25-16, 20-25, 15-11 loss Friday night to the Guelph Gryphons, who improved their record to 10-1.
The Gaels then suffered a 23-25, 25-23, 25-17, 23-25, 15-13 defeat to the McMaster Marauders on Saturday night. The win continued OUA-leading McMaster’s 11-0 unbeaten season. After the weekend, the Gaels’ record stood at 6-4—fourth-best in Ontario.
Head coach Brenda Willis said she was impressed with the team’s play despite the losses.
“I actually thought we played the best volleyball we’ve played yet this season,” she said.
“Those two are very good teams. They’re both teams we can beat, but it’s tough to go three weekends out of four on the road and play five-game matches all the time.” Willis said the team is poised to defend their OUA title in the
second half.
The team will play American schools in an exhibition tournament in Florida from Dec. 26 to Jan. 4.
Rookie outside hitter Joren Zeeman said the competition should help the team upon their return to OUA play.
“We’re playing higher-quality opposition, and we’ll have to step up our game,” he said.
The women’s team also struggled on the weekend, suffering a 25-16, 25-14, 20-25, 25-16 defeat to the Gryphons Friday and a 25-13,
25-19, 25-23 loss to the Marauders Saturday. The losses drop the Gaels’ record to 2-6, sixth-best in the OUA East.
Head coach Joely Christian told the Journal in an e-mail the team’s performance on the weekend was a step down from their five-set loss to the Brock Badgers and four-set victory over the Ryerson Rams in their previous games.
“It was a disappointing weekend after such a strong showing the weekend before,” she said.
The women’s team concludes the pre-holiday portion of their schedule Friday night in Ottawa, where they will face the defending OUA champion Ottawa Gee-Gees.
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.
